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Sweden to charge airlines higher rates for more polluting aircraft

‘This means that takeoff and landing fees can be more significant when a plane’s climate impact is higher,’ says government

Helen Coffey
Tuesday 23 March 2021 11:07 GMT
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New rules would apply at Arlanda airport in Stockholm
New rules would apply at Arlanda airport in Stockholm

Sweden is drawing up plans to charge airlines higher rates for more polluting aircraft.

The new measure would apply to takeoff and landing fees at Swedish airports, with the idea being that carriers would benefit from having more efficient planes.

The move incentivises airlines to swap older, more polluting models for newer, less impactful jets.

“This means that takeoff and landing fees can be more significant when a plane’s climate impact is higher and they can be reduced when the climate impact is lower,” said Sweden’s ministry of infrastructure.

Set to start in July, the scheme must first be approved by parliament; the government has said the measures are still under discussion.

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Takeoff and landing fees at both Stockholm’s Arlanda airport and Landvetter airport in Gothenburg would be covered by the initiative, if approved.

Sweden is famously where the burgeoning flygskam or “flight shame” movement first took off in Europe, with thousands of people, including prominent Swedes like opera singer (and Greta Thunberg’s mother), Malena Ernman pledging to swap flying for more sustainable forms of transport.

There’s been a spike in rail travel over the last couple of years in Sweden as the movement has picked up momentum.

In the first quarter of 2019, domestic air travel passenger numbers fell by eight per cent, while the total number of journeys on the Swedish Railways network grew by the same amount.

Other countries are also starting to introduce policies to curb the growth of aviation.

In October 2020, France announced it was considering introducing a radical eco-tax on flights, which, if approved, would be one of the biggest environmental taxes on air travel of any country in the world.

The “reinforced eco-contribution”, which appears similar to the UK’s own Air Passenger Duty (APD), will add a significant amount to the price of air fares.

Short-haul (under 2,000km) economy flights would be taxed €30 one-way; medium to long-haul (over 2,000km) economy at €60 one-way; short-haul business class tickets at €180 one-way; and medium to long-haul business class at a whopping €400 one-way.

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