The mission of the Association économique romande pour une infrastructure aéroportuaire performante (AERIA+) is to defend an efficient airport infrastructure in the interest of the regional economy. As such, AERIA+ supports the draft revision of the CO2 law while insisting on the need to actively support innovation in the air transport sector.

Issues

Following the failure of the first draft of the CO2 law on June 13, 2021, the Federal Council has put out for consultation a second proposal based on other measures to achieve the CO2 emission reduction targets that Switzerland has committed to.

This new draft revision of the CO2 Act refrains from introducing new taxes or increasing existing taxes, as these were the main reasons for the failure of the first revision of the Act. The Federal Council wants to achieve the reduction targets through targeted incentives and support instruments, mainly in the transport, building and industry sectors.

In line with its objectives, AERIA+ has decided to comment on the elements of the draft concerning air transport.

AERIA+’s position

The president of AERIA+, Jean-Marc Probst, states: “AERIA+ is in favor of this new version of the CO2 law, which does not introduce taxes, but rather incentives and encouragement to reconcile environmental objectives with the needs of the air transport economy.

The following points were raised in the AERIA+ position paper:

• Airline ticket tax: AERIA+ welcomes the abandonment of the principle of an airline ticket tax aimed at influencing demand and believes that incentives and encouragement should be preferred over the introduction of new taxes.

• Synthetic Aviation Fuel Blend Rate (SAF): The proposal calls for a mandatory renewable fuel blending rate equivalent to that in the European Union, i.e. 5% by 2030. This close alignment with the EU is important because it prevents distortions of competition in the European market. AERIA+ supports the adoption of these targets, which will encourage the development of the biofuel industry by ensuring market opportunities.

• Support for innovation in the field of aviation (Art. 103b): AERIA+ supports the federal government’s promotion of the development and production of renewable synthetic aviation fuels. These investment contributions for innovative companies strengthen Switzerland’s position as a center of research and innovation and accelerate the adaptation of the aviation industry to environmental challenges.

• Cross-border rail passenger transport (Art. 37a GTG): AERIA+ considers that the fund from the aviation emissions auction should be used to support the production and use of synthetic renewable fuels, in accordance with the proposal in Article 103 paragraph 2 of the LFG. If the fund is used for rail, priority should be given to supporting cross-border connections with reasonable travel times in order to ensure the complementarity of the air and rail transport networks.

You can read AERIA+’s position paper here