As air traffic is rising, noise, pollution and airport construction are increasing as well. Reducing cost of passenger flight, often to holiday sites, is one of the reasons. Some people claim that governments should introduce more heavy taxes to handle air traffic. But I disagree with those claims because people’s freedom to travel will be restricted and tourism will suffer.
People’s freedom to travel will get limited because of heavy taxes. If heavy taxes are imposed to reduce air traffic, airline companies will increase the prices of tickets to cover the taxes. As a result, middle- and lower-class people may suffer and may not be able to travel. For example, when an average-income family wants to travel abroad, they may not be able to afford the increased costs. More to the point, increased taxes can lead to demonstrations among public.
Furthermore, taxing air traffic heavily will have negative impact on tourism. Because of the high prices, the majority of the people tend to stop travelling abroad. As a consequence, tourism will decline. Moreover, it may have knock-on effects on the economies of many countries that are mainly dependent on tourism. For instance, Uzbekistan underwent such economic recession during it first 25 years after its independence since it imposed heavy taxes on air traffic. The government has recently realized economic and cultural benefits of tourism and abolished taxes over air traffic.
In conclusion, I disagree with the claims of some people about imposing heavy taxes on air traffic as introducing taxes restricts people’s freedom to travel and has negative impact on tourism.