Taking to the air - the subsidizing of air travel.

There is talk again within the EU of looking into the tax exemption on airplane fuel as concerns over climate change hot up. While other forms of transport pay tax on fuel, airlines are exempt and are of course resisting any change in any way. See the following by the European Low Fares Airline Association; http://www.elfaa.com/documents/press%20release%20re%20aviation%20and%20ETS%20280905.pdf .

Airlines have always quoted job creation as a prime reason to keep their tax exemption status. Increasingly they are also asking whether the travelling public would be happy to forego cheap airfares that they currently enjoy. An effective defence! Environmental campaigners are however locking their sites on airlines as they see them as an increasing contributor to carbon emissions. Are they killjoys? After all, forcing higher airfares through tax changes will mean only the rich can afford the luxury to fly.

For a detailed study on the effect of subsidies on fuel emissions go to;
http://www.feasta.org/documents/energy/DHealyFossilFuelresearch.pdf