10/04/2024 – 1.5 billion euros of aviation tax was payable in 2023 for roughly 74.9 million air passengers, according to tax returns of the airlines. Depending on the distance, different tax rates are charged. For most of the air passengers (80.6%), the airlines had to pay the lowest rate of 12.73 euros in 2023 (including flights to/from North Sea islands, tax reduction to 20% of the tax rate). For 6.4% of the passengers, the medium rate of 32.25 euros was paid and for 13.0% of the passengers the highest rate (58.06 euros).
The aviation tax applies to all flight bookings made from 1 September 2010, with departures from 1 January 2011, and is charged only for passenger flights. It applies to flights departing from German airports.
Since 2011, the Federal Statistical Office has processed aviation tax data on an annual basis. Any legal transactions concluded from 1 September 2010 and entitling an air passenger to depart from a domestic place of departure from 1 January 2011 by means of an aircraft or rotorcraft (e.g. helicopter) through an airline to a place of destination are subject to aviation tax. The party liable to pay the tax is the airline, which generally passes on the levy to the air passengers. The tax arises with the air passenger’s departure. It must be declared by the 10th day, and becomes due by the 20th day after the end of the calendar month in which it arose. In statistics, the tax is shown for the date when it arises, i. e. the departure.
The tax rate depends on the distance between Frankfurt/Main, the largest German commercial airport, and the largest commercial airport of the country of destination and is broken down into three distance classes:
| Distance | Tax rate1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||
Until 31.03.2020 | From 01.04.2020 | Until 30.04.2024 | From 01.05.2024 | |||||
| Euro | ||||||||
1: By its decision of 20 December 2012, the European Commission authorised Germany to reduce aviation tax for flights under Section 5 no. 5 of the Aviation Tax Act ( LuftVStG) (flights to islands) to 20 percent of the tax rate specified in Section 11 (1) no. 1 of LuftVStG. The tax does not apply, for example, to departures of air passengers under two years of age, departures serving military, state authority or medical purposes, and flights of crews dealing with the security of air passengers. | ||||||||
| Domestic flights, EU member states, EU accession candidates, EFTA member states and third countries located in that range of distance (in particular Turkey, Russia, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria); see Annex 1 to Section 11 of the Aviation Tax Act (LuftVStG) | 7.38 | 7.37 | 12.90 | 12.88 | 12.77 | 12.73 | 12.48 | 15.53 |
Countries not indicated in Annex 1 to the LuftVStG up to a distance of 6,000 kilometres (other North and Central African states, Arab states, Central Asian states); see Annex 2 to Section 11 of the LuftVStG | 23.05 | 23.01 | 32.67 | 32.62 | 32.35 | 32.25 | 31.61 | 39.34 |
| any other flight destinations with a distance of over 6,000 kilometres | 41.49 | 41.43 | 58.82 | 58.73 | 58.23 | 58.06 | 56.91 | 70.83 |
| Memorandum item: reduced tax rate for flights to/from North Sea islands as specified in Section 5 no. 5 of the Aviation Tax Act (LuftVStG) | 1.48 | 1.47 | 2.58 | 2.58 | 2.55 | 2.55 | 2.50 | 3.11 |