Scottish private jet tax could help pay for peak rail fares removal

Cleared for take-off: a private jet tax for Scotland, shows that if a private jet tax had been in place in 2023, it could have raised an estimated £21.5 million. If also applied this year, the revenue is likely to have been enough to either extend the axed off-peak fares pilot until the end of the financial year or nearly offset cuts to the Scottish Government’s budget for Sustainable and Active Travel.

Ahead of Scotland’s Climate Week next week, Oxfam Scotland is calling for the Scottish and UK Governments to “urgently unlock the irresponsible impasse” on the introduction of the Air Departure Tax. It says Scottish Ministers should then immediately use the tax to tackle the egregious climate vandalism of the ultra-rich while raising crucial new revenue to invest in green initiatives.

Oxfam Scotland’s paper shows:

In 2023, there were 12,911 recorded private flights to and from Scotland’s airports – around 6 per cent of the UK total.

If Air Departure Tax had been operational in Scotland in 2023, with a Private Jet Tax embedded, illustrative modelling suggests it could have raised up to £21.5 million more in tax receipts to invest in climate action.

Edinburgh airport is Scotland’s private jet hotspot with more than a quarter (26%) of private jet take offs and landings occurring there during 2023.

Since 2019, the same year the Scottish Government declared a ‘climate emergency’, there have been 54,746 recorded private flights in Scotland.

Separate analysis suggests private jets are 5 to 14 times more polluting per passenger than commercial flights and around 50 times more than trains.

With the wealthiest 1 per cent contributing more emissions than two thirds of humanity, Oxfam warns that without fair action, this injustice will only deepen.

The paper points to measures the UK Government could take to tax private jets more fairly. Separate analysis suggests that alongside fair taxes on the ownership of superyachts, these taxes could have raised up to £2 billion in the UK last year to help combat the climate crisis.

However, Oxfam Scotland says the Scottish Government shouldn’t wait for action at Westminster, and should swiftly implement a new tax on those using private jets in Scotland.

The power to charge tax on air passengers leaving Scottish airports was devolved in 2017, with the Scottish Government’s Air Departure Tax (ADT) planned to replace the UK’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) in Scotland. Oxfam Scotland says the Air Departure Tax legislation enables the Scottish Government to implement a targeted tax on private jets, either through adapting the existing ‘special’ category rate or by creating a specific new rate for private jets, set at least 10 times higher than the existing Higher rate under the UK-wide APD.

However, Air Departure Tax is yet to be implemented, having been plagued by bureaucratic complications and political wranglings between the previous UK Government and the Scottish Government over the continuation of an exemption for passengers flying from Scotland’s highlands and islands communities.

Oxfam Scotland says there is no meaningful obstacle to the Scottish and UK governments now resolving this issue. It says the two governments must urgently get around the table to extend the existing exemptions and subsidies that apply within APD for people travelling from remote communities to the new devolved ADT, unless they are using private jets.

Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “Private jets are an egregious form of climate vandalism, fuelling irreversible damage to our planet. While the ultra-wealthy live in planet-destroying excess, people living in poverty the world over are paying the price. Fairer taxes on the most polluting forms of travel would not only raise more money to invest in climate action that benefits us all, but they could also help ground the demand for these high-polluting luxuries. The Scottish and UK Governments must stop stalling and urgently unlock the irresponsible impasse to ensure that those who pollute the most – and who can afford it the most – pay to clean up the climate cost of their lavish lifestyles.”

In April this year, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Mairi McAllan promised the Scottish Government would ‘soon’ lay out the high-level principles of ADT, including how it will support emissions reductions. While this suggested imminent progress, five months on, campaigners say Ministers must kick start action to implement ADT, including a specific tax on private jets.

Oxfam Scotland says that the introduction of a private jet tax should be seen as the first step in a broader strategy to drive down aviation emissions and demand. Proposals include imposing a levy for people who fly multiple times a year as well as restricting short haul flights when alternative options, such as train travel, exist. Such measures are needed now because sustainable aviation technology remains underdeveloped, and emissions from the sector are only expected to grow in the short-term.

Despite aviation being a significant contributor to emissions, the Scottish Government has no specific plan to reduce demand for flying, with Transport Scotland’s new Aviation Strategy silent on the issue. The omission contradicts the view of the Scottish Government’s own advisers, the Climate Change Committee, which has clearly stated that a demand management framework is needed to track and, if necessary, control the sector’s emissions, as part of the Scottish Government work to achieve net zero by 2045.

Livingstone added: “Urgent action is needed to tackle the climate crisis and deal with its devastating impacts, both in the UK and around the world. There’s enough money to go around but it requires making fairer, smarter choices. The UK and Scottish Governments have the responsibility to use the powers they each hold to take the bold action needed to tackle climate inequality and create a fairer, more sustainable future for everyone.”

The extreme inequality of private luxury travel is fuelling the climate crisis. Let’s fight climate inequality. Ask the Scottish Government to get onboard. Take action now: https://bit.ly/TaxLuxuryTransport 

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For more information and interviews, please contact: Rebecca Lozza, Oxfam Media and Communications Adviser, Scotland and Wales: rlozza1@oxfam.org.uk / 07917738450  

Notes to Editors

• Read Cleared for take-off: a private jet tax for Scotland.
• A methodology outlining the UK level calculations is available on request.