Airport: “I want to correct that” – Merz wants to further reduce air traffic tax

Berlin. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) wants to further reduce air traffic taxes in Germany. “The second part has to follow,” said Merz on Tuesday at the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce in response to a question about whether the aviation tax could not be completely abolished. The black-red federal government reversed the increase in aviation tax on July 1st.

“We are not doing ourselves any favors with this burden, because air traffic in Germany is switching to locations outside the Federal Republic of Germany,” added Merz. Sales would then be made there. “I want us to get this corrected,” he added, without giving details. This would have an impact on the federal budget.

Merz also criticized the lack of funding for the federal capital's airport connections. The federal government has now ensured that the airline Emirates is allowed to fly to Berlin as the fourth airport in Germany. “I would have liked a different airport policy in Berlin year and day ago,” criticized the Chancellor. “There is no other country in the world that treats its capital as miserably badly when it comes to airport facilities as the city of Berlin.”

With regard to the closure of Tempelhof and Tegel airports, he added: “There is no other capital in the world that is closing four of the existing six runways without replacement.” Overall, Berlin now needs to be better connected again “on all transport routes”. "That's what we want to do. It's a task that will cost us years of investment."