Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD), who will also be the top candidate for the successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) in autumn, called for minimum prices for flight tickets to be introduced in a TV interview with ProSieben. He named “50 or 60 euros” as the lower limit.

The German politician is taking action a project by the Austrian Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens). This is considered to be massively controversial, as it is extremely difficult to bring into line with existing international agreements, but also with regulations of the European Union. The “Autumn 2021” date originally mentioned by Gewessler could not be met. There were also signals from Brussels that the project could not be brought into line with EU law.

But: Union law can also be changed and if a large number of member states demand this, there is a likelihood that an EU-wide regulation can be introduced. The emphasis is on can, as not all members consider that airline ticket minimum prices are a good thing.

In any case, Scholz demands: "No flight can be cheaper than the airport charges and all other charges that are incurred for them". He now wants to campaign at European level and take action against cheap flights within the Union territory. He wants to "enforce a lower price limit". In an interview with ProSieben, he set this at around “50 to 60 euros”. He describes this value as “cheap” compared to “what flying used to cost”.