Denmark will begin collecting a per-passenger air travel tax next year with rates that will gradually escalate through 2030. The tax applies to all fixed-wing aircraft—commercial and private—with more than 10 seats and an mtow of 12,566 pounds or more.
They will be levied on a sliding-rate scale based on flight length: intra-Europe, medium-haul, and long-haul. Rates initially will range from $4.48 to $44.82 per passenger but will rise from $7.35 to $60.30 by 2030.
Proceeds from the tax will be used to fund the transition to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Denmark and for cash assistance to the elderly. The government expects the tax to generate up to $180 million annually. Denmark has set a goal of powering all domestic airline travel with sustainable power—SAF, hydrogen, and/or electric—by the end of the decade, and companies developing these technologies will be eligible for government support under the new tax scheme.
Flight categories exempted from the tax include military, government, air ambulance, search-and-rescue, humanitarian, police, infant transport, aircraft operator staff traveling for business, and transfer and transit passengers under certain conditions. Operators must register with the Danish tax agency, Skatteforvaltningen, at least eight days before the first taxable flight. Foreign, non-EU-based entities must appoint a Danish fiscal representative.
Tax payments are due on the 15th of the month following the taxable flight, and financial penalties and flight restrictions apply for incorrect or non-payment. Flight records must be maintained for five years after the end of each reporting year.
The air passenger “green tax” is similar to those adopted in other European countries, including France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. Such taxes have long been opposed by a variety of industry trade groups, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which recently noted that the taxes are contrary to International Civil Aviation Organization commitments and “rarely” produce revenues “used to support investments that would help mitigate or reduce future emissions in the aviation sector.”