Ryanair today opposed the carbon tax on air travel passengers, whose proposal was approved on Wednesday, urging the government to work with low-emission companies, rather than "wasting" money on TAP.
“Environmental taxes have no effect in reducing CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions, they are regressive and hamper competition. Ryanair is opposed to any additional fee, since it pays hundreds of millions of euros annually (630 million euros in fiscal year 2020) in environmental taxes ”, the airline said in a statement, urging the Government to reject the proposal.
For Ryanair, the imposition of new taxes on aviation will be “extremely damaging for Portugal”, classifying as “absurd” the imposition of “more barriers” by the Government to the sector's recovery due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.
The company also defended that the executive, instead of “wasting 1,2 billion euros of Portuguese taxpayers on TAP”, should protect jobs and consumers, working with “the airlines that in fact provide low emissions, low fares and connectivity to support employment in the tourism sector in Portugal ”.
The PAN proposal to create a carbon tax of two euros to be charged to passengers traveling by air, sea or river was approved, on Wednesday, in parliament, during the vote on the specialty of the State Budget for 2021 ( OE2021).
The measure foresees that during the next year a carbon tax will be introduced on the “consumer of air, sea and river trips”, in the amount of two euros per passenger, the proceeds of which go to the Environmental Fund.
The PAN proposes that these revenues be used to finance the railway “and to reduce emissions from the road sector, namely, to improve and increase the availability of public transport and to transport methods with lower CO2 emissions”.
The fee is levied on “the issuance of commercial air transport tickets for passengers departing from airports and aerodromes located in Portuguese territory and on the docking of passenger ships at port terminals located in mainland Portugal for supply, repair, embarkation or disembarkation passengers, respectively ”.
