IATA: Environmental Aviation Taxes Do More Harm Than Good

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), stated that taxes imposed under the guise of environmental protection do not deliver tangible ecological benefits and often harm the aviation sector economically. He welcomed the recent trend of reducing or abolishing aviation fees in several countries.

Walsh described taxation as a “critical issue,” emphasizing that “there is no evidence that taxation improves environmental outcomes.” According to him, such fees merely reduce the number of passengers able to afford flights, while flights continue to operate at lower load factors.

As a positive example, he cited Sweden’s abolition of the aviation tax in mid-2025 and Germany’s plans to reduce fees from mid-2026. At the same time, Walsh criticized the United Kingdom for continuing to increase the Air Passenger Duty (APD) in line with inflation and introducing other initiatives, such as the Solidarity Levy. He noted that the APD “reflects the economic situation of the country rather than any genuine environmental objective.”

Walsh also referenced the Netherlands in 2007–2008, when the introduction of an aviation tax led passengers to use nearby airports to avoid fees. “Taxes imposed under the pretext of environmental protection deliver zero benefit, and we can prove it,” Walsh concluded.