Airlines rebel against EU and Spain’s new taxes and warn of more expensive tickets

Headed by Antonio Garamendi, chief executive officer of CEOE in Madrid, and with the support of senior executives of the main airlines operating in the Spanish market (Iberia, Air Europa, Air Nostrum, easyJet, Iberia Express…) and the IATA international employers association, the industry has warned multiple socioeconomic shocks According to their predictions, they will own the industry and the Spanish economy as a whole. Also, the impact in Spain will be much larger than in other EU countries. big weight Gezi inside GDP national (about 12.5% ​​of the total).

European Union’s plan to promote decarbonisation ‘Fit for 55’ Reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030is designing environmental measures for the aviation industry, such as tightening emissions rights trading or increasing the percentage of sustainable fuels used by aircraft. The European Union is also one of the Twenty-Seven new kerosene tax and in addition, the Spanish Government specific rate for airline tickets under green taxation (Treasury has enabled its work, but the app has been frozen due to the pandemic).

The Airline Association (ALA), which brings together nearly sixty airlines operating at Spanish airports, emphasizes that community environmental measures will make sense. extra cost for the airline industrybut admits that they will serve moving towards decarbonisation of the airline industry. However, airline employers are only aware of the new taxes drawn up by the EU and the Spanish Government. making airline tickets more expensive and losing customersand that they are not effective for the goal of progress towards emissions reductions.

Less tourism, less employment

ALA and the main companies in the industry warned of the impact this will have on their businesses, the entire tourism sector and the Spanish economy as a whole. A report by Deloitte, the consulting firm commissioned by the airline itself, includes specific projections of the multiple socioeconomic impacts that the ‘Fit for 55’ package of measures and the tax imposed on airline tickets by the Spanish Government will represent.

According to Deloitte’s ‘Flying towards a sustainable future’ study, implementation of all measures will cause Spain to lose a total of 11 million international tourists by 2030; will reduce the tourism revenues that foreign travelers actually spend in the country by 12.2 billion euros; reduce Spanish GDP by 1.6 percentage points (equivalent to 23,400 million euros); Y will destroy 430,000 jobs by the end of ten years.

ALA and Deloitte point out that much of this economic impact comes from the eventual application of the new taxes. According to their estimates, the fiscal measures are a 0.9% of decline in Spanish GDP and 236,000 jobs lost in the national economy as a whole, compared to the 0.7% cut to GDP and 194,000 jobs lost due to environmental measures.

“Revenue Effort”

“We are participating in environmental measures from the industry that contribute to the achievement of the target. [de emisiones netas cero en 2050]and we are prepared to incur an additional cost to the extent that they contribute to the decarbonisation of the industry. Againfiscal measures respond to a collection effort and do not decarbonize“It is making a significant impact on the tourism industry,” said Javier Gándara, president of ALA and easyJet’s senior manager in the Spanish market.

“We ask for common sense not to impose new fiscal measures and taxes that could significantly reduce the competitiveness of the airline industry,” said Antonio Garamendi, CEOE president.most Sustainability can’t be at any price“There is a need for an orderly ecological transition with realistic milestones, intelligence and without causing our companies to lose competitiveness.”

Iberia, the implementation of the new taxation increase in airfare, ultimately with the demand pulse. “In recent years, the airline industry has managed to democratize tourism. But with these measures, democratization will end. Only the elite, those who traveled in the eighties will be able to travel,” said Juan Cierco, Corporate Director of Iberia. .