The Netherlands will increase the passenger flight tax to almost €30 from 1 January 2023 to discourage people taking flights thus opting for more environmentally friendly transportation.
As of 1 January next year, the air passenger tax will increase by over €20 for all flights from the Netherlands, from the current €7.95 to €28.58, sources from The Hague confirmed after Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported the news.
The tax increase is part of an agreement of the governing coalition. The passenger tax was first introduced last January, despite the airlines’ pleads of delaying it until a full recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was made. Tripling the tax to about €24 per ticket was already being discussed in the Dutch cabinet this summer, but the government finally decided to opt for an even higher increase.
The passenger tax will apply to all departing flights from the Netherlands, except children under 2 years old. People who arrive in the country or only transfer there will also be exempt from the measure.
Online magazine One Mile at a Time points out that this is just one of the taxes passengers departing from the Netherlands have to pay, along with the “Netherlands Passenger Service Charge” and the “Netherlands Security Service Charge”. They estimate that, on a one-way flight form Amsterdam to Frankfurt, passengers will have to pay more than €60 just in taxes from next year.
The higher air passenger tax is part of the government’s plan to reduce the environmental impact of travelling, part of the revenue from this tax being used “for making aviation more sustainable and reducing the environmental impact”.
The authorities hope that this will determine people to choose more sustainable modes of transport, such as trains. Another measure included in the plan is reducing the capacity at Schiphol Airport by about 20%. The cap will be imposed form November 2023 and is aimed at reducing noise pollution at and around the airport.
The airport also imposed a daily passenger cap over the summer, which will be extended at least until October. The reduced capacity is supposed to reduce the chaos caused by the lack of staff at the airport.
