No-frills airline Ryanair adds 25p to every ticket price to pay for 'eco-loony' green tax scheme

By Charles Walford for the Daily Mail
Updated:


Ryanair is to add 25p to all bookings from next week under a new EU tax aimed at cutting carbon emissions.

The budget airline, which will bring in the levy from January 17, described the European Emissions Trading System as an 'eco-loony tax'.

It said ETS would cost Ryanair passengers between 15million and 20million euros during 2012.

The levy will apply per passenger, per one-way flight. It is levied based on an airline's carbon emissions.

Ryanair has announced it will introduce a 25p levy on all bookings to cover the ETS

Ryanair has announced it will introduce a 25p levy on all bookings to cover the ETS

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: 'Ryanair does not believe that European aviation should be included in the ETS scheme since it accounts for less than 2 per cent of the EU’s CO2 emissions.

'This latest EU stealth tax will damage traffic, tourism, European competitiveness and jobs at a time when no other economic block is including aviation in their ETS schemes.

EUROPEAN EMISSIONS TRADING SYSTEM

Launched in 2005, the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) initially covered 10,000 power and industrial plants.

Under laws of the system, large carbon dioxide emiters in the EU must monitor their CO2 emissions and report them every year.

All airlines using EU airports were brought into the scheme on January 1, and must now submit permits to cover the carbon emissions of their flights.

As well as airlines, the ETS currently covers installations with a net heat excess of 20 MW in the energy and industrial sectors.

Operating in 30 countries (the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), it works on a 'cap and trade' system there is a 'cap', or limit, on the total amount of certain greenhouse gases that can be emitted by the factories, power plants and other installations.

According to the European Commission, within this cap, companies receive emission allowances which they can sell to or buy from one another as needed.

'This new ETS tax is the latest in a long line of cost increases imposed on Europe’s air passengers by the European Union, which reduces the competitiveness of EU air transport with yet another misguided "environmental" tax which does nothing for the environment but penalises EU consumers and families.'

It comes after China's biggest airlines refused to pay the ETS levy.

Chai Haibo, of the China Air Transport Association – which represents national flag carrier Air China – said its members would not co-operate.

However the EU insisted it would not back down.

Airlines which do not comply with the tax can be fined and even prohibited from flying into the European Union.

It is claimed the plan could cost Chinese airlines £79million in extra annual costs.

Meanwhile, Malaysian low-fare airline AirAsia X is to stop its Gatwick to Kuala Lumpur flights from the end of March.

The carrier started flights to and from the UK in 2009, flying first from Stansted and switching to Gatwick last year.

AirAsia X currently operates six flights a week between the UK and Malaysia.

The UK axing is part of an overall scrapping this year of all its European and India flights.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary recently brought in extra baggage charges fro passengers

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary recently brought in extra baggage charges fro passengers

The carrier blamed the ETS scheme, the UK’s air passenger duty departure tax and high oil prices for its decision.

Last month passengers flying with budget airline Ryanair were told they will have to pay up to £100 to check in each bag during peak travel times.

In June, July, August and September and over Christmas, passengers who are caught out at the airport with bags over the 10kg hand luggage allowance will be forced to pay £100 to check them in, up from the original fee of £40.

And even those who book online and confirm that they are checking in a bag will be charged £25, an increase of £5 per bag.

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