Kaag acknowledged that raising the flight tax will not immediately lead to a major change in travel behaviour. That is why she believes it is important to invest in more and faster trains. “In the long run you will see that if the train becomes more attractive, there will be more connections” […] that people prefer to take the train because they also see that the very cheap flights are no longer so cheap.”
On Monday, the cabinet announced that the flight tax will probably be increased to 24 euros, a tripling of the current rate. That should generate an additional 400 million euros annually. The proceeds do not go specifically to making aviation more sustainable, but also to other things. According to Kaag, however, it is not an ordinary tax increase: “I would not call it vulgar. It is a form of pricing.”
