The Danish Climate Council wants flying out of Denmark to cost more. The independent advisory body is proposing to raise the climate fee on departing European flights to 220 kroner and to add a further 100 kroner to the fee on flights to destinations outside Europe.
The recommendation comes after departures from Danish airports kept rising in the first half of 2026, even though there had been warnings that jet fuel shortages could push up fares and reduce the number of flights. The council’s call therefore lands at a moment when air traffic from Denmark is still growing rather than shrinking. Under the current arrangement, agreed three years ago, the fee on flights within the EU is due to rise to 50 kroner by 2030. Passengers heading beyond Europe will pay 310 or 410 kroner, depending on how far they travel.
Council member Marie Münster, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), set out the case in an interview with the broadcaster DR. She said Danish fees are similar to those in some neighbouring countries but lower than in the UK and the Netherlands. In her view Denmark should at least match the countries that charge more, and she presented the change as a chance for the country to set an example. “Denmark could lead the way here,” she said.
The gap between the two plans is wide. The council’s figure for European routes is more than four times the 50 kroner already scheduled for 2030, and its proposal would take the long-haul fees to 410 or 510 kroner. Higher charges would also reach beyond Danish residents. Transit passengers changing planes in Denmark would pay them, and so would travellers from southern Sweden, because Copenhagen Airport serves that region as well as the Danish capital.
For now the idea remains a recommendation, as the government has not put forward any proposal. Lars Aagaard of the Moderate Party said higher fees could make flying harder for some residents. He warned that people might respond by driving to Hamburg or Malmö to catch their flights, or by connecting through Stockholm, which would move the journeys rather than remove them. In his view, charges of this kind should be set at EU level rather than by Denmark acting alone, so that passengers cannot simply switch to an airport across the border.
