The Dutch government recently cut flight movements at Schiphol airport (check the following video for a more detailed discussion: https://youtu.be/8LjqUnzoOBM), which one of the major airports in Europe. Now it is thinking about levying a special tax for transfer passengers.

Wouter Dewulf and I, Achim I. Czerny, discuss the role of transfer passengers for connectivity and economic growth. We also discuss the potential environmental benefits of a tax on transfer passengers. For a more detailed discussion of how travelers in Belgium miss having strongly connected Brussels airport, please check the companion video: https://youtu.be/dzyCunB2X88

The 2026 European Aviation Conference, EAC26, hosted by our colleagues at the University of St. Gallen will be specifically about aviation taxes. We will continue the discussion in St. Gallen.

Here's the link to Wouter's LinkedIn notes: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wouter-dewulf-25556b3_emissions-activity-7400818417106313216-GgSj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABxTbUoBDtxs5dtR9m7P0tq8N4xjxwWqniE Here's the link to the study by Campante and coauthor on the effect of air connectivity on economic growth: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/133/3/1395/4768296?guestAccessKey=78a930a8-42a0-416b-993d-b591d98c9f41