EU ministers make call for green tax on air travel

Ireland's Paschal Donohoe is not among the group.

But the combination of German, French, Italian and Dutch ministers, along with those of Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden, means the policy has backing in what will be the biggest EU economies once the UK leaves. Last month, Mr Donohoe said he saw "merits" in a tax on aviation fuel across the bloc.

In their joint statement, the ministers said aviation benefited communications and economic growth, but the environmental impact was not being paid for.

"Aviation has a significant impact on the environment: it causes approximately 2.5pc of global CO2 emissions," they stated.

International air transport is exempt from excise duties and VAT, they noted, and environmental costs are not covered in the price of tickets.