An influential committee of MPs has urged the government to increase the price of long-haul flights, in response to the growing threat posed by climate change.
The Environmental Audit Committee has released a report suggesting that a fuel duty and VAT rise should be attached to international flights and domestic services, to encourage passengers to travel via rail.
However, the government’s own assessment claims that passengers already pay more in environmental taxes than is necessary to cover the damage of their travel.
Tim Yeo, chairman of the group, suggested that the government needed to introduce more financial incentives to “green” the UK’s aviation industry.
He told The Telegraph: “We do need to reduce emissions from aviation and we believe higher rates of tax on long haul and higher rates on domestic flights are an essential part of the better reflecting the actual emissions in the price of the travel.”
Aviation currently accounts for around two per cent of the world’s carbon emissions.
