Tuesday, June 1st, 2021
Airlines should cover costs
Lufthansa finds the minimum flight price “legitimate”
Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz recently announced that there will be no more flights for less than 50 euros. The legal possibilities for a lower price limit are currently being examined. Lufthansa definitely has sympathy for the project.
Lufthansa is open to the move by SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz for lower prices for flights. “If minimum prices mean that airlines have to cover their costs and are not allowed to call up fancy prices below the applicable taxes and fees, then that’s legitimate,” said board member Harry Hohmeister to the newspapers of the Funke media group. In mid-May, Scholz had told ProSieben that it would take action against cheap flights and set a lower price limit.
According to Hohmeister, making flying more expensive, for example through additional taxes, would be counterproductive, especially now in the crisis. “We already have an air traffic tax, which in normal times brings about one billion euros a year for the state budget,” said Hohmeister. From the airline’s point of view, this money should be used for the further development of sustainable kerosene and new drive technologies.
“No flight can be cheaper than the airport charges and all other charges that are incurred”, announced Scholz. The possibilities within European law are currently being explored. Flights at junk prices should no longer exist, they would cost at least 50 or 60 euros in the future.
In response to the debate about a possible ban on domestic and short-haul flights, Hohmeister said that Lufthansa has for years always given up domestic flights where the railways are competitive. For certain longer routes and as a feeder for long-haul flights, domestic German flights remained important for society and the German economy. “As long as an airport like Munich does not have an ICE connection, there is still a lot to be done in expanding the rail infrastructure,” he said.
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