Consultant Solidarity Levies Italy

The consultant will deliver an independent analysis of the potential impact of introducing a premium flyer levy in Italy, covering revenue potential, distributional effects, economic impact and legal feasibility. The analysis will set out a small number of costed design options and recommend which of them ONE should pursue. 

The assignment will typically cover the period from November 2026 to March 2027, for a maximum of X working days. The exact duration, number of days and balance between the areas set out below may be adjusted in discussion with the selected consultant. 

BACKGROUND 

Passengers departing from Italian airports already pay a municipal boarding surcharge of €6.50, rising to €7.50 at Rome. The 2025 budget added a further €0.50 on extra-EU departures from airports handling more than 10 million passengers a year, which the government expected to raise around €8 million in 2026. The revenue goes to municipalities near airports, to the air transport solidarity fund and to social security schemes, and none of it reaches development cooperation or global health. 

Several European governments have begun looking at aviation charges that fall on premium travel rather than on the market as a whole. France applies a solidarity contribution on air tickets at rates that vary by cabin class and by aircraft type, and raised those rates in March 2025. The Netherlands introduces distance-differentiated tariffs in 2027. The United Kingdom charges a separate and considerably higher rate of air passenger duty on private jets. Nothing equivalent has been costed for Italy. The debate so far has been shaped by the aviation industry's campaign against the existing municipal surcharge, with climate organisations arguing on the other side for measures targeted at luxury flights. Neither side has produced an independent estimate of what a differentiated premium levy would raise, who would end up paying it, or what it would cost the sector. 

OBJECTIVES 

• Establish what a differentiated premium flyer levy would raise in Italy and who would bear the cost, 

• Provide ONE and its partners with an evidence base robust enough to withstand scrutiny from the Italian aviation industry and from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, 

• Identify the design option that is most viable politically and legally, together with the legislative route through which it could realistically be advanced. 

ACTIVITIES 

The consultant's services will include, but not be limited to, the following areas: 

• Baseline mapping 

• Map the taxes and charges currently applied to air passengers and aircraft in Italy, including the municipal boarding surcharge, regional charges where they apply, the erariale tax on private and business aircraft, VAT treatment and the cost of EU ETS obligations 

• Set out, for each charge, the legal basis, the rate, the annual yield and where the revenue goes 

• Establish the volume and composition of premium traffic departing from Italy, covering premium cabin passengers by route category and business and general aviation movements by airport, and how both have moved since 2019 

• Design options and revenue modelling 

• Develop three to four concrete levy designs for Italy, including as a minimum a premium cabin levy differentiated by distance band, a charge on private and business aviation levied per passenger or per movement, and a combined option 

• Specify for each design the taxable event, the liable party, the rate structure and the collection mechanism 

• Model the annual revenue of each option over five years, giving a central estimate and a sensitivity range 

• Distributional and economic impact 

• Assess who bears the cost of each option, including the share of departing passengers affected and the effect on ticket prices by market segment 

• Assess the likely effect on demand, route connectivity, airport competitiveness and employment, using published price elasticities and evidence from countries that have introduced comparable measures 

• Engage directly with the arguments made by Italian airline and airport industry bodies rather than setting them aside 

• Quantify the emissions associated with premium and private aviation departing from Italy and estimate the emissions effect of each design option, in a self-contained section that can be used or left out depending on the audience 

• Legal and fiscal feasibility 

• Identify the legislative vehicle each option would require and assess compatibility with EU law, the Chicago Convention and bilateral air service agreements 

• Assess whether revenue could be directed to development cooperation and global health within Italian budget law, including any constraints on earmarking and the precedents available 

• Political economy