Merkel's conservatives want tax hike for domestic flights

• Increase taxes on domestic flights and reduce the cost of long-distance train tickets.
• We want to double this ticket tax for all domestic flights and triple it for short-haul domestic flights under 400 kilometers,

BERLIN: Seeking to tackle climate change, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives want to increase taxes on domestic flights and reduce the cost of long-distance train tickets, a party document seen by Reuters on Friday showed.

The German government - made up of Merkel's conservatives, their Bavarian CSU sister party and the Social Democrats (SPD) - is expected to present a far-reaching package of climate protection measures on Sept. 20.

The flight levy for domestic flights currently stands at 7.40 euros ($8.21).

"We want to double this ticket tax for all domestic flights and triple it for short-haul domestic flights under 400 kilometers," said a party document that the board of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) is due to review on Monday.

The document, called "Climate-friendly Germany - using innovations as we head into the future", showed that the party also wants to make long-distance rail travel cheaper by reducing the value-added tax levied on train tickets.

The document said a premium worth several thousand euros should be introduced to encourage people to scrap old, inefficient heating systems so that climate targets for buildings can be achieved.