Road (and sky) user charging

Off to Southwark today to discuss road-user charging with Luis Willumsen, Technical Director, of Steer Davies Gleave. SDG has been involved with transport schemes across the world, so it was a good chance to hear from their expert the issues involved in installing such a system. It was very informative. There is much work to be done to prepare the public and politicians for the necessary introduction of road-user charging.

I hear that the American government has complained to the British that the new aircraft tax is unlawful. We at the ETA have campaigned ourselves for a fuel tax, as part of our green tax policy, and through the Transport Taxation Group for an aircraft tax – rather than a passenger tax – because it reflects, more precisely the impact that air travel has on the environment. Not least because it encourages better utilisation of aircraft and includes freight planes.

I expected the American government to complain but not in public. The rules on air taxation are governed by the Chicago Convention of 1944 – a year that many countries were at war or occupied. Although they have been updated since there is an assumption that aircraft cannot be taxed. On reading the convention I cannot see where it says fuel taken on board an aircraft cannot be taxed. The only relevant article seems to be number 24. In simple terms it only forbids the taxation of fuel that has been brought into the country. See for yourself here

Air travel might only contribute 2% of climate change but in the ETA’s view every contributor to global warming should be taxed in equal measure. Fairness engenders acceptability.