France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall • Hacker News Board

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#61

Post by realusername » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:54 PM UTC

rdtsc wrote: post #41

I've flown through a French airport once - Paris Charles de Gaulle and since have gone out of my way to not fly through it again. It was a hot mess. They lost the luggage, it was hard to find gates, parts of it looked outdated, customer service sucked. A year after, the ceiling at its _new_ terminal collapsed killing several people ( https://www.thoughtco.com/charles-de-gaulle-airport-terminal... ). Maybe it was just…

I had a pretty good experience on my case, nothing to say really. The passport control queues were pretty optimized and things worked as they should. I've definitely seen much worse airport than that.

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#62

Post by nine_k » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

XMPPwocky wrote: post #27

elohju wrote: post #21

Because in France ecofascism is becoming the #1 religion thanks to leftist propaganda. Government uses that to increase taxes.

Do you have a working definition of fascism here or are you using it as something closer to "a bad politics thing"?

From Wikipedia: «Fascism ... characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy».

There are people who see the enforcement of the green agenda in these terms, like this: you can't speak publicly against it, you can't act openly against it, and it gets forced on the economy through the power of the state.

I personally think that such a view is a bit of a exaggeration. But we should remember that the danger of fascism is always around the corner, in the groupthink and in the enforcement of One True Way in anything.

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#63

Post by dawhizkid » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

cameronbrown wrote: post #10

I don't really understand what the purpose of this tax is. There's no alternative to burning fuel by energy density on an airline, so why go after flights? What do they expect them to do? If you're taxing petrol cars you'd expect electric cars to become more economically viable. Either way I disagree with carbon taxes. They're regressive, and ignore the fact that regular people are being badly hurt by them whereas th…

Business class taxes are 3x-6x economy, so corporations/rich people are paying more.

Flying as is is a luxury, economy class or not, and we shouldn't forget that.

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#64

Post by craftyguy » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

buboard wrote: post #24

frenchman99 wrote: post #22

I think there is this thing called the train.

Immigrants cant train to algeria

They can take boats. Or not travel as frequently.

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#65

Post by elohju » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

skocznymroczny wrote: post #25

mattnewton wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they expect people to fly less; similar to many other “sin” taxes like those on alcohol or tobacco.

What's the alternative to flying?

Sailboats

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#66

Post by inflatableDodo » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:56 PM UTC

buboard wrote: post #24

frenchman99 wrote: post #22

I think there is this thing called the train.

Immigrants cant train to algeria

Given that you can get from France to Algeria by land and there are extensive rail networks across all the connecting regions, including extensive rail networks in Algeria itself, built originally by the French, I would be amused to know how you came up with this conclusion.

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#67

Post by joyjoyjoy » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:56 PM UTC

sbergot wrote: post #32

skocznymroczny wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the alternative to flying?

Using a train.

When was the last time you took a train from Paris to New York?

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#68

Post by cyrksoft » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:56 PM UTC

Will flights still be cheaper than trains?

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#69

Post by ceejayoz » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:57 PM UTC

buboard wrote: post #24

frenchman99 wrote: post #22

I think there is this thing called the train.

Immigrants cant train to algeria

The idea isn't to prevent all air travel.

Re: France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

#70

Post by baud147258 » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 3:58 PM UTC

caymanjim wrote: post #38

This is simply rent seeking. It won't reduce flights, it's too small to incentivize any fuel efficiency changes, it's passed on to the consumer so it won't alter airline behavior, and while the article claims the revenue will go towards financing trains, it doesn't state how that will be implemented. Are they going to reduce fees on trains accordingly? Are they going to improve train efficiency? Are they going to bui…

Trains in France are State-owned and heavily indebted, so more money would just mean reducing some of that debt; even then, the amount of money expected to be taxed (~200 M€) is nothing compared to the national railway budget, which is around 30-40B €.