Seventy percent of Germans in favour of banning short haul flights - survey

Seventy percent of Germans would support a ban on short haul flights in order to better protect the climate, a survey has found. A poll carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Institute of the German Economy (IW) found that respondents are in favour of curbs on short flights as long as the distances can be covered in three hours or less by train. In addition, 80 percent said they agreed “completely” or “somewhat” with the statement that it is cheaper in the long term to switch to a climate-friendly economy today than to wait until later, and 70 percent agreed that consumption should be restricted today so that future generations can continue to live comfortably. In a survey earlier this year, nearly one in four Germans supported a ban of short-haul flights. One in three was in favour of raising taxes on flights to make them less attractive, and a quarter of those surveyed opposed any change to short-haul flights.

Cutting back on short-haul flights and raising taxes on international flights has become a campaign issue for the Greens and Social Democratic Party (SPD). Green Party chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock has said she would seek to ban short-haul as well as cheap flights. SPD rival Olaf Scholz has also come out against cheap flights.