Why you need to visit France before 2020
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">France are planning on introducing a new charge on plane tickets from next year. The country plans on using the revenue to fund environmentally friendly alternatives, according to the country’s transport minister Elisabeth Borne.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The “ecotax” will cost between 1.50 euros ($NZD 2.49) and 18 euros ($NZD 29.91) and will apply to most flights departing from France.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, industry group IATA is favouring a system that allows airlines to offset their emissions by paying for carbon reduction efforts elsewhere. They are calling the ticket charge system “misguided”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“National taxes will do nothing to assist the aviation industry in its sustainability efforts,” IATA spokesman Anthony Concil said, according to </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/france-to-slap-new-ecotax-on-plane-tickets-from-2020/news-story/660d5b3771308c35a386b9571502c2e4"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This alone won’t do much, but it’s at least a recognition by the French government that more is required,” said Andrew Murphy, an air travel expert at Brussels-based group Transport and Environment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Germany, Italy and some Nordic nations have ticket taxes. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Germany’s Environment Ministry said on Tuesday that it supported discussions on additional CO2-based pricing systems for air travel to reduce the industry’s contribution to man-made greenhouse gas emissions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What’s more, the conditions for competition between air, road and rail travel need to be made fairer,” the ministry said in a statement.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is something we in Europe need to achieve together.”</span></p>
