Portugal has instituted a new tax aimed primarily at business aviation. Billed as a carbon-emissions tax, it was signed into law as a national budget amendment in April and implemented for aircraft with up to 19 seats at the beginning of July. Similar to a measure introduced in 2021 for airline passengers, the tariff is much more onerous for private aviation flights.
According to aviation industry data clearinghouse Ops Group, while a typical 250-seat airliner flying between Lisbon and Newark Airport in New Jersey will pay a €500 surcharge, a Gulfstream G650 on the same route will pay four times that amount, despite the airliner’s much greater fuel burn.
The new tax will be imposed on all commercial and non-commercial flights departing from Portugal and also applies to tech stops in the Azores islands, which are Portuguese territory. Exempted from the tax are emergency diversions due to weather, mechanical, or medical problems, fully electric aircraft, PSO flights on government-subsidized routes, state-owned aircraft, and search-and-rescue and medevac flights.
The European Business Aviation Association stated it will monitor the developments in Portugal and will actively explore opportunities to discuss with the Portuguese lawmakers regarding these matters.