Cheaper tickets? Departure tax change for airlines in Hungary

The Hungarian government plans to introduce a progressive taxation system for airlines. This might result in reduced ticket prices later down the line. The new regulation will go live from January of the following year. The recent ruling will be based on a new, greener approach which will encourage more environmentally friendly thinking for airlines.

According to hvg.hu, the departure tax for most airlines will decrease. The new taxation system will be progressive. The departure tax for each flight will depend on the carbon emissions of the flight, instead of a unified system. Airlines will have to pay taxes depending on the destination of the travel. Experts say that most routes and airlines will be positively affected by the new regulation. The bottom line of the new taxes was drawn exactly at the rates with which cheap airlines work. This might result in cheaper ticket prices.

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Cheaper flights?

The new regulation was a surprise to say the least, reports okosutas.hu. There are now three categories based on the “greenness” of the flight. The bottom line is below 10.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted, this is considered to be the greenest flight. For it, the taxes were reduced to HUF 2,700 (EUR 6.7) inside Europe and HUF 6,800 (EUR 16.85) outside of it. The middle line is between 10.5 to 17.5 kilograms emitted. Here, the tax rate remains unchanged at HUF 3,900 (EUR 9.6) inside Europe and HUF 9,750 (EUR 24.2) outside of it. The most polluting category is above 17.5 kilograms emitted. Flights like these we cost more for the airlines as the taxes were increased for this category. Inside Europe, the tax for a flight will cost HUF 5,100 (EUR 12.6) and outside HUF 12,700 (EUR 31.5).

The change is absolutely positive and the Hungarian regulation is aligned with global taxation trends. This change encourages more environmentally friendly behaviour for airlines. In Europe, the greenest fleet is operated by Wizz Air and Ryanair follows closely. Therefore, it is likely that the aeroplanes of Wizz Air will be in the bottom category. Thanks to the new regulation, the operating costs for cheap flights are reduced. However, this does not mean that the price of tickets will be reduced.

The lower operating costs will make Hungarian routes more profitable. This means that fewer flights are expected to be deleted, which is also great news. Since the introduction of the departure tax, both airlines deleted routes and did not announce any new ones. So, the answer is most likely that flights will not become cheaper. At least, flights to Budapest will become more accessible.