BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government wants to ensure that airlines pay a fair price for the carbon emissions for which their industry is responsible, an environment ministry spokesman said on Friday, adding that flights could not remain cheaper than train travel.
Earlier, Alexander Dobrindt, parliamentary leader of a Bavarian conservative party that is allied with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats had called in an interview with newspaper Bild for punitive tariffs to be imposed on flights costing less than 50 euros.
"Nine euro tickets for flights within Europe have nothing to do with market economics or climate protection," he told the newspaper. "There needs to be a minimum flight price and rail journeys need a VAT cut."
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Thomas Seythal)
