Aviation is one of the sectors that contribute to global warming and inequalities. Even so, it enjoys certain privileges such as tax exemptions . In the case of Spain, the airline sector does not pay taxes on the fuel it uses and VAT is only applied to domestic flights at a reduced rate of 10%. There is also no tax on airline tickets, as is the case in other countries. This makes Spain the second country that loses the most money in air taxes in the entire European Union , behind France. In 2022, it stopped earning 4,610 million euros, an amount that "is equivalent to the annual budget of Barcelona and Valencia together, and enough to maintain the subsidy of free passes for Cercanías and Media Distancia trains throughout Spain for almost 7 years," according to the new report by the environmental organization Transport & Environment, in which Ecologistas en Acción has participated .
It quantifies the revenue lost in 2022, called the “ fiscal hole ”, in the EU-27 countries, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. In Europe as a whole, current air transport pricing policies barely represent 16% of the total effective revenue that could be generated by properly taxing the sector. Thus, the fiscal hole meant a loss of 34.22 billion euros for European countries last year. And more than half
Special Data airlines on the continent. Estimated number of passengers and CO2 emissions in 2022 (in millions) Domestic flightsFlights within EuropeIntercontinental flights Number of travelers in 2022Co2 emissions in 2022 Graphic: Climate Source : Transport & Environment Download the data Created with Datawrapper In Spain, Iberia's activities are those that widen the fiscal hole like no other: they are responsible for 850 million euros.
According to the study data, in 2022 the airline was saved from paying 480 million euros. It is worth mentioning that the European Union Emissions Trading System is only applicable to flights within the European Economic Area, so airlines do not pay anything for the emissions of their transoceanic or intercontinental flights. Meanwhile, the Barajas airport is going to begin expansion works to become a connection point for the high demand for medium and long-distance flights . The fiscal hole widens year after year In 2022, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain were the main emitters with 25.4 Megatonnes (Mt), 17.3 Mt, 17.2 Mt and 17.2 Mt of CO 2 emitted respectively by flights that departed from its airports. Ending tax breaks last year would have saved 34.8 Mt , equivalent to the combined emissions of Europe's three largest airlines: Ryanair, Air France and Lufthansa.