Do the aviation taxes in Norway and Sweden decrease passenger numbers?
Warras, Emil (2020)
Warras, Emil
Åbo Akademi
2020
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2020060240238
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2020060240238
Tiivistelmä
Norway implemented an aviation tax on departing air travel passengers in 2016. Sweden did the same in the year 2018. This thesis investigates effects of the aviation taxes on total passenger numbers, as well as the possibility that the effect is greater on low-cost flights in the low-cost segment. The analysis includes the years 2011-2019 and 129 airports. I perform dynamic difference-in-differences regression analyses and find that the aviation taxes in Norway and Sweden did not have a significant impact on overall passenger numbers. The effect was not significant for airports catering to the low-cost segment either. When performing the regressions exclusively for domestic air travel, the results were significant. For Sweden, this is the case when studying domestic air travel from airports that have a low-cost presence. The tax appears to have reduced domestic travel from these airports by over 10%. For Norway, the effect is present when studying air travel from all airports. The Norwegian aviation tax appears to reduce domestic air travel by 24%. However, as the overall passenger numbers are not decreased as a consequence of the aviation taxes, the taxes fail as an environmental tax. I recommend further research on the impact of aviation taxes with more detailed data on airfare and the destination of air travellers.