MPs from Germany's conservative party CSU want extra tax on cheapest European flights

MPs from the conservative German government coalition party Christian Social Union (CSU) have proposed an extra tax on cheap flight tickets within Europe, reports newspaper Bild Zeitung, citing a paper developed for a meeting of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU. Airlines "that offer flight tickets under 50 euros will have to pay a competitive price tax in the future," Alexander Dobrindt, head of the CSU in the Bundestag, told the newspaper. With the aim of climate protection, Dobrindt argued for introducing a minimum price for air travel and reducing the value-added tax on rail travel.
Hours after the news broke, CSU secretary general Markus Blume told Tagesschau: "This is not a proposal coordinated within the CSU. The CSU is a party that lowers taxes, not one that increases them." The party would decide its climate action package at a meeting at the end of next week. 

With emissions in the sector rising fast, air traffic has become a focus of public attention in Germany and across Europe. The German government recently initiated a strategy for climate-friendly aviation, signing a declaration together with industry and union representatives stating that industrial policy should focus on electric and hybrid electric aviation and market introduction of competitive alternative fuels.