The German Bundestag voted on Thursday evening in Berlin to lower the country's air travel tax, known as the Luftverkehrsteuer, back to the levels that were in place before May 2024. The legislative amendment was introduced by the governing coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD. In addition to the coalition parties, the AfD also voted in favour of the change, according to official Bundestag records. The Greens and the Left Party (Die Linke) voted against it.
The air travel tax in Germany is charged on every ticket sold, with the amount determined by the distance to the destination country. Under the approved changes, flights to destinations within 2,500 kilometres will be taxed at €13.03, down from the current rate of €15.53. For destinations between 2,500 and 6,000 kilometres away, the tax will drop from €39.34 to €33.01. Long-haul flights beyond 6,000 kilometres will see the rate fall from €70.83 to €59.43.
The legislation still requires approval from the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house of parliament, before it can take effect.
The distance for calculating the tax rate is always measured from Frankfurt Airport to the largest commercial airport in the destination country. The lowest rate applies to European countries, including Turkey and Russia, as well as several North African nations. The middle rate covers additional North African countries, the Middle East, the Caucasus region, and Central Asia. The highest rate applies to all remaining countries worldwide.
German airlines reported a total of €2.1 billion in aviation tax liabilities across approximately 84 million air passengers, based on airline tax returns. The vast majority of passengers, around 80%, fell under the lowest tax bracket of €15.53, covering short-haul destinations. The medium rate of €39.34 applied to 6.7% of passengers, while 13.3% were charged the highest rate of €70.83 for long-haul flights.
According to the German federal government, the planned reduction in the air travel tax is expected to result in an annual decrease in tax revenue of approximately €330 million.
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