Whoops: Sweden Really Wants Its Airlines To Fly Again After “Flight Shaming”

As I always say, every experiment needs an experimental group, and Sweden has done their part in seeing what flight shaming has wrought

Sweden invented ‘flight shaming’. Now it is begging airlines to return

The country that invented “flight shaming”, a concept championed by climate activist Greta Thunberg, has scrapped its air tax in a bid to boost its ailing economy.

As of July 1, Sweden has dropped the levy of 76–517 kroner (£5.50–£37.40) per passenger per flight, an eco measure introduced by the centre-left government in 2018.

The U-turn will be seen as a disaster by environmentalists, and it exposes a tension at the core of the aviation versus climate debate. When jumbo jets disappear emissions drop, but other things begin to dwindle too: regional growth, connectivity and – it appears in Sweden – public support for eco concerns.

It doesn’t seem a lot, $7.54 to $51.32, but, it adds up, and it goes with the government and all the cultists literally shaming people. Which had an impact

In a short period of time the “flight shaming” (“flygskam”) movement took hold. A survey in 2019 showed that nearly a quarter of Swedes were abstaining from flying in a bid to reduce their climate footprint, up from 17 per cent the year before.

The impact on Sweden’s aviation industry was stark. Swedavia AB, which runs 10 Swedish airports, saw passenger numbers drop for seven consecutive months in 2019. The country witnessed its slowest growth in airline passenger numbers for a decade. Meanwhile, state train operator SJ saw passengers leap to 32 million citing “big interest in climate-smart travel.”

But

The pandemic was the catalyst for change. The country suffered a recession in 2023 and the economy shrank by 0.3pc between April and July 2024. It was within this economic climate that the new right-wing government, elected in 2022, said that there were “few reasons to feel flight shame” as they announced plans to invest £76m into the aviation sector and drop the air tax entirely.

Airlines were quick to praise the decision. Ryanair promptly re-introduced two new aircraft to its Swedish fleet and added ten new routes. EasyJet said “we strongly welcome the abolition of taxes on passengers to help keep flying affordable” and Norwegian announced it would add new routes from Norway to Sweden.

This wouldn’t be happening unless the Swedish citizens wanted it. All over the EU nations have adopted all sorts of cult regulations and fees (which, of course, only apply to the peasants, not the rich folks, who couldn’t care less, and are generally exempt on their private jets)

The question is where these countries will go next. Clearly the Swedish U-turn highlights the complexities around marrying green policies with national interconnectivity and regional prosperity.

“Until electric planes and emissions-free aviation are viable options, we all need to fly less,” says Justin Francis. “Aviation fuel needs to be taxed in line with other transport fuels. The industry has had a free pass here for too long, and the proceeds need to be ring fenced for investment in lower-carbon aviation and improving rail infrastructure.”

Oh, piss off. Go pedal your cult elsewhere, leave people alone.

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