The Netherlands is on course to have the steepest aviation tax in the entire European Union by 2027, with airline KLM warning that the consequences go well beyond pricier tickets.
From next year, travellers from the Netherlands will pay an average of over €40 in aviation tax per ticket — though the exact cost depends on your ticket.
If that sounds painful enough for your wallet, just wait until you hear the EU average sits at roughly €5. As KLM reports, this makes the Dutch rate more than eight times higher than the European average.
Here’s what you’ll actually pay
For medium-haul destinations like Turkey, Egypt, or Morocco, passengers will pay €48 in aviation tax per person in 2027. Yup, that’s a steep 60% jump on current rates.
However, it gets worse.
For long-haul routes to the United States, Suriname, or Asia, the tax rises by as much as 140%.
To put that into perspective, a family of four flying to New York would pay nearly €290 in aviation tax alone. That’s €72 per ticket, before a single euro goes to the airline or the airport.
This increase is a carryover from the previous cabinet’s plans, and it puts the current coalition in a peculiar position: its own coalition agreement specifically calls for a single, uniform European aviation tax, yet this hike runs in the exact opposite direction.
Dutch flyers are being pushed across the border
Research by Markeffect, commissioned by the airline, found that 74% of Dutch flyers say they would consider departing from foreign airports more frequently if the aviation tax continues to rise.
And it doesn’t take a data report to see that this trend is already well underway.
Already, record numbers of Dutch travellers are driving to Germany to fly from Düsseldorf and other border airports — and the 2027 aviation tax increase will only accelerate that.
KLM warns that if passengers consistently reroute through foreign hubs, airlines will eventually cut destinations from Dutch airports altogether.
That means fewer direct routes for everyone travelling to or from the Netherlands: expats, businesses, international students, and the broader Dutch economy.
Something’s got to give
Naturally, this hits expats and internationals twice as hard.
Visiting family in Asia, the Americas, or North Africa is already expensive — paying an extra €72 per person in tax on top of a long-haul fare is a significant additional burden.
MPs have previously raised concerns about this exact scenario, and KLM is now formally calling on the government to align Dutch aviation tax rates with those of neighbouring countries.
However, whether the cabinet acts on that is another question entirely.
Will you be looking at flights from Brussels or Düsseldorf to dodge the higher tax, or are you sticking with Schiphol? Let us know in the comments.
I used to fly into Schiphol about four times a year. The last time I flew via Schiphol was just before Covid and I decided it would be the last time. The airport was more like a vast shopping mall and it was so obvious it simply wanted to fleece passengers of every last euro.
Taxes are theft, and governments from all signs have an insatiable voracity to get more our of us. I hope more people will travel to Brussels or Dusseldorf to send a clear signal this is unacceptable. We did it with our family of 4 multiple times, and will continue doing so as long as the situation stays the same.