Ryanair takes carbon tax out on passengers

RYANAIR has come up with another way to charge its passengers, announcing a new 50 cent charge on each return flight so it can fund the cost of what it describes as an “eco-loony” EU tax.

MEP Jim Higgins described their latest stunt as “a complete joke”. “Next thing Ryanair will introduce an EU safety charge, as the EU has imposed certain safety standards which all airlines have to meet, and there is a cost involved in respecting those same standards. I wonder is Mr O’Leary suggesting that airlines should have no regulation at all by the EU?”

According to Ryanair, the new “levy” will be charged on each seat sold from next January to cover the projected €15 million-€25m they expect to pay because of CO2 emissions from their airline fleet. A company spokesman said: “This latest EU stealth tax will damage traffic, tourism, European competitiveness and jobs at a time when no other economic block is including aviation in their ETS [emissions trading] schemes.”

This isn’t the first time that Mr O’Leary has slapped a tax on customers because of EU regulations.

In 2006, Ryanair introduced an EU 261 levy after the EU introduced a set of passenger rights for those stranded because of delayed or cancelled flights, under Regulation 261/2006.

On that occasion, he also incurred the wrath of Mr Higgins: “Mr O’Leary would do very well to remember that without the opening up of the internal market on the first of January 1993, Ryanair could not exist.

“I am all in favour of cutting down bureaucracy but the fact is that the EU has to regulate airlines to some degree, and without doing so, there would be no standards in the airline industry.”

As of this year, the EU has required that all airlines flying to Europe be included in their ETS schemes, a system that forces polluters to buy permits for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit above a certain cap.

A number of airlines and industry groups, particularly from non-EU countries such as China, India and the United States, are vehemently opposed to inclusion in the ETS.

In December, the EU’s highest court ruled the scheme does not breach international law.