Introduce a fair Private Jet Tax (with an exemption for Highlands and Islands lifeline travel only) and then act to reduce wider aviation demand
This involves operationalising the Air Departure Tax (ADT), with a fair Private Jet Tax embedded from the start, as a climate just first step towards a robust aviation demand management strategy, including a Frequent Flyer Levy.
Aviation is a significant source of emissions, with 26 million air passengers at Scottish airports in 2024 – up from 9.9 million in 1990.
The Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Act 2017 provides wide powers for the Scottish Government to apply a tax on passengers on flights leaving Scotland’s airports. However, it has yet to be operationalised. The next Scottish Government should urgently work with the UK Government to ensure an exemption for passengers travelling from the Highlands and Islands continues when this devolved tax replaces the UK-wide Air Passenger Duty in Scotland.
In operationalising ADT, a fair first step would be to embed a Private Jet Tax. This could be done almost immediately. Estimates suggest that private jets are 5 to 14 times more polluting per passenger than commercial flights and that the private jets of 23 of the world’s richest billionaires produce, on average, more carbon emissions in just over a day than the average person in Scotland does in a whole year.
With more than 12,000 recorded private flights involving Scotland’s airports in 2024, a tax on high-polluting, luxury private jets would strongly align with climate justice and the polluter pays principle. If ADT had been in place and applied at the highest possible rate, that would have generated up to an extra £29m in tax revenue, according to new Oxfam Scotland research.
Private jets are just one example of luxury travel that could be taxed, and other options include a cruise ship levy and calling on the UK Government to set higher excise duty on SUVs.
For more information:
- Cleared for take off: A private jet tax for Scotland, Oxfam Scotland, 2024