France to impose a green tax on plane tickets from 2020

The French government has decided to impose a tax of up to 18 euros ($20) on plane tickets for all flights from airports in France to fund less-polluting transportation projects. The move, which will take effect from 2020, will see a tax of 1.5 euros imposed on economy-class tickets on internal flights and those within Europe. The new measure is expected to bring in some €182 million a year which will be invested in greener transport infrastructures, notably rail. It will only be applied on outgoing flights and not those flying into the country. Earlier, in April 2018, a similar tax was introduced in Sweden that imposed an added charge of up to €40 on every ticket in a bid to lessen the impact of air travel on the climate.