Rumours are rife and British travellers are being warned that the cost of flying to Spain could rise substantially in the coming decades as the UK looks for ways to cut aviation emissions.
One figure in particular has attracted attention: an extra £150 for a return flight between London and Alicante.
For Costa Blanca residents who regularly travel between Spain and the UK, that sounds significant. But before anyone starts adding £150 to the cost of next summer’s flights, there is an important distinction to make.
This is not a new £150 tax that the UK Government has announced.
Instead, the figure comes from modelling by the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) looking at how the aviation industry could reach net zero by 2050.
Why has Alicante been singled out?
Interestingly for those of us on the Costa Blanca, the CCC actually uses Alicante as one of its examples.
In its Seventh Carbon Budget, the committee considers what could happen if the UK applied a high carbon value to aviation emissions and airlines passed the entire cost on to their passengers.
Under that scenario, it estimates that by 2050 a return flight from London to Alicante could cost about £150 more.
For comparison, the same modelling suggests a London-New York return ticket could increase by around £300.
But these are examples of possible future price increases under particular assumptions. They are not confirmed charges.
Why could flying become more expensive?
Aviation presents a particular problem for the UK’s plans to reach net zero.
According to the CCC, aviation produced 8% of UK emissions in 2023. By 2040, it expects aviation to become the country’s highest-emitting sector as other parts of the economy reduce their emissions more quickly.
The committee says the cost of reducing aviation’s environmental impact should ultimately form part of the cost of flying.
That could happen in several ways.
Airlines may face higher costs from sustainable aviation fuel and technologies designed to remove carbon from the atmosphere. The Government could also use taxes or other measures to influence demand.
If airlines pass those additional costs on to passengers, fares could rise.
Is a frequent-flyer tax coming?
Again, nothing in the report means the Government has decided to introduce one.
The CCC discusses a frequent-flyer levy as one possible option. Under such a system, the tax would increase according to how often someone flies.
It also considers increasing Air Passenger Duty, introducing additional tax bands based on emissions or distance, taxing aviation fuel and limiting airport expansion.
The committee makes clear that choosing which policies to introduce remains a decision for the Government.
What could this mean for Costa Blanca expats?
This is where the proposals become particularly interesting for British residents in Spain.
A flight between Alicante and the UK is not necessarily an occasional holiday for someone living on the Costa Blanca.
Many residents fly back to Britain several times a year to see children, grandchildren, elderly parents and friends. Others travel regularly for work or divide their time between the two countries.
A policy based simply on the number of flights taken could therefore affect some overseas residents differently from people who take one annual holiday abroad.
The CCC recognises this wider issue. Its citizens’ panel generally preferred policies that targeted people who fly frequently and more polluting journeys while protecting the ability of families to take an annual holiday.
How any future government would define frequent flying, calculate journeys or deal with people living abroad would depend on the design of an actual policy.
At present, those details do not exist.
Are flights about to become £150 more expensive?
No.
The £150 figure relates to a possible increase by 2050 under a specific scenario.
The CCC assumed that the Government’s high carbon value would apply to aviation emissions and that airlines would pass 100% of those costs on to passengers.
That is very different from saying the Government plans to add £150 to a London-Alicante ticket.
The committee also expects people to continue flying. Its central pathway forecasts UK aviation passenger demand increasing by around 10% between 2025 and 2040 and by 28% by 2050, although that growth would be considerably slower than under its baseline scenario.
Why is this being discussed now?
The CCC advises the UK Government on the carbon budgets needed to meet Britain’s legally binding climate targets.
Its Seventh Carbon Budget covers the period from 2038 to 2042 and recommends limits on the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, including emissions from international aviation and shipping.
The committee’s role is to recommend a pathway. Government and Parliament then determine what policies and legal measures to adopt.
That distinction matters when reading reports suggesting that Britons “face” a £150 increase on flights to Spain.
The possibility is genuine. The £150 calculation is genuine. But the charge itself has not been announced.
Bridging the Gap’s recap
- The £150 figure is genuine and comes from the UK’s Climate Change Committee.
- The CCC specifically used a London-Alicante return flight as its example.
- It estimates that such a ticket could cost around £150 more by 2050 under a particular carbon-cost scenario.
- There is no confirmed £150 tax on flights to Spain.
- The figure assumes airlines pass 100% of the additional carbon-related costs to passengers.
- A frequent-flyer levy is one of several options discussed, not an announced policy.
- Other possibilities include changes to Air Passenger Duty and measures linked more directly to emissions.
- Any frequent-flyer system could be particularly relevant to British residents on the Costa Blanca who travel regularly between Spain and the UK.
- For now, you do not need to budget an extra £150 for your next Alicante flight.
Let Bridging the Gap help you navigate through more Costa Blanca Red Tape.
