German Government to impose air travel tax as part of austerity measures

German Government plans to impose an air travel tax, under a four year austerity plan to reduce its budget deficit (Bloomberg/Dow Jones, 07-Jun-2010). The tax is to be paid by passengers departing from domestic German airports, with the level of the tax to be dependent on factors including the flight's noise pollution and fuel consumption. The government expects the tax to generate EUR1 billion p/a in revenue. The levy will be replaced by a Europe-wide measure once the European Union's carbon-emissions trading scheme is launched in 2012. German public spending cuts will total EUR80 billion under the economic austerity package, including 15,000 public sector job cuts (Financial Times, 07-Jun-2010).