The Canaries could lose 1 million tourists a year due to the new EU ‘green tax’

The Airlines Association (ALA) warned yesterday (Monday) that the Canary Islands could lose a million tourists a year and 40,000 people could lose their jobs if the flights that connect the islands with the rest of the EU are not exempt from the new green taxation on kerosene, the so-called Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Faced with this situation, the president of the air employers' association, Javier Gándara, has demanded that the central Government defend the exclusion of the Canary Islands from the application of the emission right in the EU, and has asked the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, to, together with the air sector, support this exception to protect tourism on the islands, the fundamental pillar of their economy.

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement a couple of weeks ago, which has yet to be formalized by the Member States and the Parliament, on the revision of the applicable EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) rules to the aviation sector.

In this agreement, the exception of its application to flights that operate between the Canary Islands and connections with the rest of the national territory is maintained until 2030 due to its geographical location as an ‘Outer Region’, but not to flights that connect the Canary Islands with the rest of the countries of the European Union.

This is why Gándara is urging to the Government to continue with negotiations and get the ETS applied to all flights from the Canary Islands to the rest of Europe, to avoid "great damage" to tourism, employment, and the economy of the Canary Islands.

The ALA cites a recent study published by the consultancy Deloittes, under the title "Flying towards a sustainable future", according to which the application of the ETS in the Canary Islands would cause the loss of one million tourists and 42,000 jobs by 2030 as a result of the increase in the cost of flights  to the islands

“If the Government does not reverse this situation, it could put the main economic base of the Canary Islands at risk, its tourism. The Canary Islands will lose competitiveness for European tourists who could easily opt for other destinations”, stated the highest representative of ALA.