Ryanair introduces £0.25 levy to cover EU carbon tax

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RYANAIR TO INTRODUCE £0.25 ETS LEVY TO COVER NEW EU ECO-LOONEY TAX

Ryanair, the world’s favourite airline, today (12th Jan) announced it would introduce a £0.25 levy per passenger for all bookings made from Tuesday 17th January next to cover the costs of the EU’s new eco-looney ETS tax, which will cost Ryanair passengers €15m - €20m during 2012.

The impact of ETS on Ryanair passengers at £0.25 per one way booking will be less than the impact upon those travelling with other EU airlines as Ryanair is Europe’s greenest, cleanest, airline (confirmed by Brighter Planet 2011 report) which enjoys lower ETS costs than high fare European flag carrier airlines who operate older, noisier, more polluting aircraft.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“Ryanair will introduce a 25p ETS levy on every seat from Tues 17th January next to cover our estimated €15m - €20m ETS bill for 2012. Ryanair does not believe that European aviation should be included in the ETS scheme since it accounts for less than 2% of the EU’s CO2 emissions. This latest EU stealth tax will damage traffic, tourism, European competiveness and jobs at a time when no other economic block is including aviation in their ETS schemes.

This new ETS tax is the latest in a long line of cost increases imposed on Europe’s air passengers by the European Union, which reduces the competitiveness of EU air transport with yet another misguided ‘environmental’ tax which does nothing for the environment but penalises EU consumers and families.”

Ryanair, 12/01/2012