Belgium has a tax on private planes and short flights

From April 1, the exemption for private jets will expire and the degree of pollution and the final destination will count for the purposes of the tax. The higher fee applies to flights of less than 500 kilometres. To give you an idea: a flight from Amsterdam to Paris is approximately 400 kilometres.

Even older and more polluting planes will have to contend with the higher tax. The tax was already applied to noisy aircraft at Zaventem airport.

In Belgium, business flights account for one in eight aircraft movements.

And the Netherlands?

Even in the Netherlands people are not against short flights. Although fewer short flights and lower CO2 emissions are the spearheads of the Dutch cabinet, the government aircraft flew significantly more often in the first eight months of 2022 than in previous years, research by RTL Nieuws showed in October.

In the coalition agreement, the cabinet says it wants to discourage short-distance flying. However, Prime Minister Rutte and Minister Hoekstra have always opted for flights, including short flights to Paris or Luxembourg.