To the Secretary of State for Transport,

Reducing aviation emissions fairly with a frequent flyer levy

Dear Minister,

We are writing to you as MPs who are concerned about the impact of flying on our climate, to ask the government to bring in a frequent flyer levy to reduce demand for flights and cut emissions in a way that’s fair and has public support. Given the severe and escalating impacts of the climate crisis on ordinary people around the world, all sectors must urgently take steps to cut their emissions and get on track for net zero - including aviation.

While it is important to explore technological solutions to reduce emissions from flights, low-emissions fuel and methods of propulsion are decades away at best from commercial roll-out. Demand management must therefore be a crucial part of the strategy to reduce aviation emissions, but this could be brought in without affecting most people, and with public support. Just 15% of people in the UK take 70% of all the flights, while in a typical year around half of the population don’t fly at all.(1) If the small group of people who take most of the flights flew less, it would be possible to cut emissions from aviation while also ensuring more people could fly sometimes. 

We propose reducing demand among the small group of people who take most of the flights, and are responsible for most of the emissions for aviation, with a frequent flyer levy. This is a progressive aviation tax which leaves people’s first flight within a given time period untaxed, and increases for each subsequent flight. It would expand access to flying and cut costs for ordinary families taking occasional holidays overseas. It would help keep aviation emissions within the UK’s legally binding climate targets, without affecting most people. It is perhaps the only fair way to ensure that we can honour our commitments on climate change while still maintaining access to some air travel for all. This is why a frequent flyer levy was recommended by Parliament’s Climate Assembly(2) and is supported by the Climate Change Committee.(3) Recent polling from BEIS found that a majority of the public are in favour of a frequent flyer levy, with fewer than one in five people opposed.(4) The introduction of a frequent flyer levy should be accompanied by a tax on jet fuel, to end the anomaly which sees a motorist filling up at the pump to get to work paying more tax than airlines operating from UK airports.

People need to be able to travel, but this doesn’t need to be by plane. Investment in low-carbon surface transport would protect mobility while also cutting emissions and creating jobs. Managing demand for flights should be accompanied by measures to protect people working in the aviation industry, such as a funded right to retrain scheme for employees who would like to move into lower-carbon sectors.

We are therefore calling on the government to bring in a frequent flyer levy, to manage demand for aviation and protect the climate while making access to aviation fairer. 

Yours,