The polluter pays. A little more than now. And that will yield the treasury 257 million annually. In short, that is the new flight tax that the cabinet wants to introduce in 2027.
That flight tax must become dependent on the travel distance, just like in Germany and the UK. Those who fly on will pay more. Miami costs more than Mallorca. For example, the Schoof cabinet had it last year agreed to meet. And so Minister Elco Heinen (Finance, VVD) has it included In the Budget Memorandum.
KLM reacted angry on Wednesday. The flight tax “touches the connectedness of the Netherlands with the rest of the world,” said President-Director Marjan Rintel.
However, environmental organizations believe that this proposal not far enough. And in October last year a group of economists argued The magazine ESB Even for more flight tax. “From a social point of view in particular, flying is now too cheap now. Passengers pay too little for the damage they do.”
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What exactly does the cabinet want?
For flights over longer distances, which are more co2 The load goes up. That proposal, part of the Tax Plan 2026, yields an additional income of 257 million euros per year. This year the ‘flat’, distance -independent flight tax of 29.40 euros per ticket brings in 833 million.
There must be three rates from 2027: the tax on short flights (up to 2,000 kilometers) remains 29.40 euros; On medium flights (2,000-5,500 km, Greece and Turkey) it will be 47.25 euros and on longer flights 70.86 euros. This is still adapted to inflation.
The proposal that the (new) Lower House will deal with in November contains exceptions. For example for flights to the Caribbean Netherlands – expensive tickets would make the economic damage too great – and to popular sun destinations in the EU that are far away (Canary Islands).
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Why does the government represent this now?
In the first place, it sounds in The Hague, because the extra millions are not to be missed for a minister of finance who has to turn all kinds of jars to get his budget around. Even though that minister of the aviation-loving VVD.
That does not mean that a higher flight tax for distant flights sounds fair. Out research The scientific council for government policy (2023) showed that ‘the polluter pays’ is a widely supported principle to divide the burden of climate policy.
Half of the Dutch never fly
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Airlines lobby fiercely against the flight tax. What is their criticism?
This tax, says KLM, makes the Netherlands the most expensive country in Europe at all distances. That’s more or less, even though the flight tax has many different versions at airports in Western Europe. In Germany (15 to 71 euros) and the UK (8 to 108 euros) it also depends on (among other things) distance. The flight tax is much lower in Belgium, 5 to 10 euros.
Now airlines have been bothering all taxes that they have to pass on to travelers for some time. According to EasyJet, at Schiphol it is currently 86 euros per person in taxes and taxes: 35 euros in port fees, 22 euros security costs, 29.40 flight tax.
KLM states that three -quarters of Dutch people who would consider flying more often to fly from Belgium or Germany if tickets in the Netherlands become more expensive.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) seems to have its doubts. The percentage of Dutch people who leave from airports such as Weeze, Düsseldorf and Brussels would have been stable for years, 13 percent of all travelers. Incidentally, not everyone flies in the Netherlands: a quarter of the population make 75 percent of all air travel. Half never flies.
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KLM also complains about the ‘back lock’?
Beats. When the flight tax was introduced in 2021, the then cabinet promised that aviation could use the yield for sustainability. However, that ‘back’ never came to the national budget. The flight tax disappears in the general means.
Now aviation does get government support. Take the National Growth Fund and the Climate Fund. They are incidental, in contrast to the flight tax, but good for 383 million and 170 million euros.
If you look at KLM’s finances, you understand the criticism. In the first half of 2025, the company suffered a gross loss of 2 million. KLM wants more than double its margin within a few years.
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Are the effects of the flight tax now so disastrous?
That is not too bad, says CE Delft. The agency did this year Research into distance -dependent flight taxcommissioned by I&W. And Finance based the new flight tax based on that.
CE Delft concludes that the passenger numbers due to the new tax will fall very limited (0.1-0.7 percent in 2030). A slight shift can take place from far to shorter journeys – to Mallorca instead of Miami. That gives less emissions and is therefore good for the climate.
Furthermore, the number of flights will not fall drastically: there is more demand for flying than Schiphol can now accommodate. According to CE Delft, the accessibility of the Netherlands and the network at Schiphol will also remain in order, and the consequences for employment and business climate are limited. The profitability of airlines may fall a few percent.
The agency investigated airtak variants that also tax switchers and upset passengers in BusinessClass. However, the government did not choose for that.
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Switchers? Business class? Isn’t those customers that KLM earns the most from?
True, the flight tax could have turned out worse for KLM. Transfer passengers are crucial for the scoop (a third of travelers at Schiphol are switchers). Amsterdam is KLM’s turntable, for example between Asia and the US. That model is under fire when switching to Schiphol becomes more expensive and travelers prefer to travel via Istanbul or Dubai. A finance spokesperson states that the cabinet wants to keep transfer passengers free, because otherwise “the network quality of the Netherlands deteriorates”.
A higher flight tax for business class travelers (who take up more space on board and relatively more pollution) would hit KLM. It is precisely the more luxurious seats that now provide a lot of income. Finance says that differentiating to travel class becomes too complicated; In recent months, airlines have introduced more ‘intermediate classes’ (Premium Economy, Economy Plus).
EasyJet has been complaining about the ‘pampering’ of transferers at Schiphol for some time. The budget company has a different revenue model than KLM and transports hardly any transfer. The latter must be taxed, says EasyJet.