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COST OF LIVING

Why the cost of flying from Germany will rise in May

Ticket tax on air travel will increase significantly from May this year, according to German government plans. Here's how it could affect you.

A United Airlines flight departs from Frankfurt.
A flight departs from Frankfurt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jana Glose

What’s happening?

Anyone planning a holiday should book their flights as soon as possible. That’s because flying from Germany is likely to get more expensive in a few months’ time. 

The increase in the so-called Luftverkehrsabgabe or ‘aviation taxation and subsidies’ air traffic tax is part of the measures put together by the German government to plug the budget gap of billions of euros that opened up following a judgement on borrowing by the Constitutional Court. 

Despite pushback from the aviation industry, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has now pushed through savings and tax increases planned by the coalition. At the weekend, he sent the Second Budget Financing Act to his cabinet colleagues who approved it on Monday. It shows that the higher Ticketsteuer or ticket tax will apply from May 2024 after it’s been signed off by German parliament. 

How will it affect air passengers?

The tax will mean that ticket prices will go up, making air travel from Germany more expensive. 

The Finance Ministry stipulates that the ticket tax will be raised to between €15.53 and €70.83.

It will rise on May 1st by almost a fifth depending on the final destination of the journey. This means that if a flight within Germany or to member states of the European Union cost €12.73 per passenger per journey in 2023, the tax will rise to €15.53 from May. For air travel of more than 6,000 kilometres, the tax will now be €70.83 per passenger instead of €58.06.

According to DPA, the cabinet approved the increases in the draft bill, which the coalition parties can now submit to the Bundestag.

Why is the government hiking up the tax?

It is a bitter pill to swallow as the cost of living for residents in Germany has been rising significantly in recent years. 

But the German government has been stuck in a budget crisis following a top court ruling involving the debt brake last year, that wreaked havoc on spending plans. 

This led to politicians hastily putting together savings plans.  

READ ALSO: How Germany plans to solve its budget crisis in 2024

Together with a further amendment to the Aviation Tax Act, the move is expected to lead to additional revenue of €445 million in the current year. Revenue is expected to rise to €580 million in the coming years, the government estimates.

The ticket tax affects all passengers taking off from German airports. Although the airlines have to pay the surcharges, the higher taxes are passed on to passengers.

The aviation industry, though against raising taxes, had previously assumed that a higher ticket tax would be introduced in the second quarter of the year.

“With the (ticket) tax, we are covering the flights of all airlines that fly from Germany,” Transport Minister Volker Wissing recently said, while defending the plan in an interview with Handelsblatt.

Germany had initially put forward a plan to introduce a fuel tax on domestic flights, but this proposal was taken off the table.

Raising ticket tax is competitively neutral for the domestic market, said Wissing. In contrast, the initially proposed paraffin tax would have favoured “fuel tourism” and “would also have made it more difficult for us to decarbonise air traffic because it can be easily circumvented”, the Minister added. 

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EURO 2024

Germany prevents hundreds of illegal border entries ahead of Euro 2024

Police detected well over a thousand illegal entries or attempted entries into Germany shortly before the start of the Euro 2024 championship.

Germany prevents hundreds of illegal border entries ahead of Euro 2024

German authorities put temporary border controls in place on June 7th in the run up to the UEFA European Football Championships in a bid to clamp down on any violence. 

Police announced that shortly before the start of the tournament on June 14th, 1,400 unauthorised entries were detected during border checks.

A total of 900 people were prevented from entering Germany or deported during this time, while 173 arrest warrants were served, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

“This shows that our measures are working,” Faeser said, adding that the aim is to recognise and stop possible violent offenders at an early stage. 

According to the minister, 19 perpetrators wanted by police due to politically motivated crime were also found, while 34 people smugglers were arrested.

The extended checks are taking place at the borders with Denmark, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg where no checks were previously carried out.

READ ALSO: Germany to check passports at Danish border during the Euros

Travellers from the Schengen zone may also face random checks during air travel, at ports or on buses and trains. 

The controls are in force until July 19th – a few days after the Euro 2024 final on July 14th.

Travellers should be prepared for possible longer waiting times at borders – and should carry valid ID as well as any travel documents they need to enter Germany. 

READ ALSO: What to know about Germany’s extra border checks for Euro 2024

22,000 officers on the job

Security is a huge factor for the event that sees 24 teams competing in several German cities. Millions of visitors from all over the world are heading to Germany to stadiums and fan zones across the country.

A total of 22,000 federal police officers are on duty to ensure security during the event – the largest deployment in the history of Germany’s police force, according to Faeser.

“They are protecting our borders, airports and rail traffic,” said the minister.

Existing controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland were recently extended by six months until mid-December. The ministry said the aim is to continue combating smuggling offences and limiting irregular migration.

Spike in number of unauthorised entries on eastern borders

It comes as the number of migrants at the German borders with Poland and the Czech Republic – along the so-called ‘Belarus route’ – has risen again.

Police recorded 2,215 unauthorised entries on this route between the beginning of January and the end of May, authorities told DPA.

In January and February there were 26 and 25 respectively, in March the number rose to 412, in April to 861 and in May, according to initial data, to 891.

A total of 1,021 unauthorised arrivals have been detected in Brandenburg since the beginning of the year, 867 in Saxony and 327 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

But despite this recent rising trend, the overall figures are significantly lower than last year. By the end of May 2023, federal police had recorded 6,000 unauthorised entries on the ‘Belarus route’, as reported by Mediendienst Integration, which processes police statistics.

Poland and the EU have accused Russia and Belarus of deliberately helping people from crisis regions to enter the EU without permission by providing visas and logistics since 2021.

Poland has now erected a 5.5 metre high fence at its external EU border. But according to Polish border guards, people are still trying to cross the border. Since the beginning of the year, 16,500 attempts have been registered, compared to 11,200 in the same period in 2023.

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