Two coalition parties want minimum price limit for airfare
Coalition parties D66 and ChristenUnie want to implement a minimum price limit for plane tickets, to prevent airlines from selling tickets for next to nothing to fill planes and hold on to routes when the coronavirus crisis is over, especially on short flights. The parties want plane tickets to be no cheaper than 34 euros, NOS reports.
"There is a good chance that after the crisis, companies will try to hold on to routes," D66 parliamentarian Jan Paternotte said. "To fill those planes they are going to perform stunts with tickets. They are going to dump them way below costs." That will likely result in lots of flying, especially at short distances, and that has major environmental consequences, he said.
The proposal can almost certainly count on the support of the left wing parties, which gives it a good chance at majority support in parliament. GroenLinks previously called for a minimum ticket price, following Austria's example where a lower limit of 40 euros per ticket is a condition for state aid for Austrian Airlines. In the Netherlands, KLM is also getting billions of euros in state aid to get it through this crisis. This aid will also have conditions attached, though what they are is still unclear.
The D66 and ChristenUnie's main goal is to make sure that the aviation sector does not just go on as usual after the crisis. The sector must be made greener and more sustainable. With that stance, the two parties are increasingly distancing themselves from the government policy.
