Air fuel tax still on global agenda - Belgium
Date: 24-Sep-01
Country: EU
A spokesman for Belgium's Green transport minister Isabelle Durant said the general assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which begins in Montreal on Tuesday would touch on the subject of lifting air fuel's tax-free status.
"We're aware of the difficulties in the sector but we need to think about the industry's long-term development," Benoit Lechat told Reuters. "We want the point discussed."
Last weekend Durant chaired a meeting of EU environment and transport ministers at which there was "unanimity" to push for changes to the rules which ban tax on kerosene used for international air transport.
As representative of the presidency of the 15-country EU, Durant said she would insist the tax issue was on the agenda of the meeting in Montreal. Belgium holds the six-month EU presidency until the end of the year.
Airline sources said in the current economic climate, with firms slashing jobs and capacity, the prospect of taxing aviation fuel was a long way off.
"People have been astonished that the Green transport minister maintains that position," an official at a major European airline told Reuters. "I don't expect any move on tax now for years to come."
Senior airline executives met European Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio on Thursday to plead for help in meeting the added security and insurance costs in the aftermath of hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.
U.S. leaders have agreed in principle a $15 billion aid package for airlines in the United States.
Environmentalists have long called for a tax on air fuel to bring air transport into line with competing modes like road and rail. A long-standing ICAO agreement means that governments cannot tax kerosene.
The ICAO general assembly, which takes place every three years, runs from September 25 to October 5.