Solutions sought

Air traffic: CO2 emissions increased by 40%

Greenhouse gas emissions in Austria were at a record level in 2019 - an increase is feared for 2024.

(Bild: J.M. Image Factory - stock.adobe)

At 2.68 million tons, air traffic in Austria caused 40 percent more climate-damaging emissions in 2023 than in 2022. These were only higher in 2019, the year before coronavirus. 

There is potential for savings, for example in business flights, and more cross-border rail connections in the EU are key. Other countermeasures include reducing bureaucratic and technical hurdles for rail travel and, in the case of air travel, the abolition of tax exemptions on kerosene. 

In Austria, for example, Asfinag has reduced the number of business flights from 661 in 2019 to 188 in 2023. Erste Group is increasingly relying on video conferencing instead of business flights and is promoting business travel by train within Austria.

"Europe needs more rail. In addition to the expansion and modernization of infrastructure and more international connections, booking and planning international rail travel must also become much easier," emphasizes VCÖ expert Katharina Jaschinsky.

Accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels
The aviation fuel kerosene is still exempt from mineral oil tax. Before the pandemic, a study commissioned by the EU Commission estimated this subsidy in the EU at around 30 billion euros per year.

Added to this is the VAT exemption on international flight tickets, which amounted to around 40 billion euros per year across the EU before the pandemic.