The Dutch parliament is sounding the alarm: their plan to slap a €70 surcharge on long-haul flights could backfire spectacularly, with travellers simply driving to Brussels or Düsseldorf for cheaper departures instead.
While the government wants to make flying from the Netherlands less attractive to help the climate, MPs now think people won’t stop flying altogether — they’ll just start their journeys abroad.
From 2027, if you’re planning to fly somewhere far away (think the United States or Australia), you’ll be paying around €70 extra on top of the current €29.40 flight tax. 💰
Yep, that’s €100 in tax alone before you’ve even chosen your seat.
The grass (and flight prices) are greener across the border
As AD writes, MPs are getting more and more concerned that the Netherlands is pricing itself out of the aviation market.
And this worry isn’t just theoretical, either.
According to VakantiePiraten, the number of Dutch passengers departing from Düsseldorf has jumped 41% since 2021, whilst Brussels has seen a 20% increase.
The result? The Belastingdienst (tax office) could miss out on millions whilst neighbouring countries rake in the cash.
Who pays and who doesn’t?
The current system charges a flat rate regardless of destination, but the new differentiated system will hit long-haul travellers hardest.
Some destinations, like the Caribbean Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, are already exempt from the flight tax hikes.
ChristenUnie MP Pieter Grinwis is also pushing for exemptions for Suriname, given the strong family ties many Dutch-Surinamese residents maintain. He’s less convinced about extending this courtesy to Indonesia, pointing out that the route is mostly holiday traffic.
The environmental irony
And here’s where it gets properly contradictory: a policy designed to reduce emissions by making flying more expensive is instead encouraging people to drive two hours to a foreign airport.
That’s extra car journeys, extra fuel, and extra carbon emissions before anyone’s even boarded a plane.
The debate continues this week as State Secretary Eugène Heijnen defends the government’s choice for higher flight taxes. Whether this policy sticks around remains to be seen.
Will you pay the premium to fly from Dutch airports, or hop over to Belgium and Germany? Share your thoughts in the comments.
How does the tax in actual fact make a difference except than enriching a few elites? The Netherlands has many migrants and the transport of migrants from far away countries is essential. We’re considering to move to Germany or Belgium the moment we receive Dutch citizenship for cheaper cost of living. Doei Belastingdienst.