Germany cabinet approves 15-year aviation strategy for competitiveness and sovereignty
Anyone flying out of Germany now sits inside a 15-year industrial bet. Merz's cabinet approved an aviation strategy today on four pillars, including aviation as military and civil security technology, plus 2 billion euros for synthetic jet fuel. Air passenger tax drops July 1.
Germany has decided that aviation is no longer just a transport question but a sovereignty one. The Merz cabinet approved a 15-year aviation strategy today, structured around four pillars: economic competitiveness, technological competitiveness, aviation as a military technology, and aviation as a civil security technology. The framing matters because it pulls civil aviation policy into the same conversation as defence and resilience, at a time when German carriers face weak passenger growth compared with the rest of Europe, rising costs, and sharpening international competition. On the industrial side, the strategy leans heavily on synthetic fuel. Berlin has opened a 2 billion euro funding consultation for electricity-based sustainable aviation fuel and set a target of producing at least 200,000 tonnes of power-to-liquid fuel a year by 2030, a move aimed at reducing dependence on imported jet fuel. In parallel, the government is lowering the air passenger tax back toward pre-2024 levels, with reductions taking effect on July 1. Travelers will see a few euros come off ticket prices, while the industry gets a signal that costs are being addressed. The catch is written into the document itself: implementation depends on the availability of budget funds. A 15-year plan announced in one cabinet meeting still has to survive fifteen years of budgets, coalitions, and competing priorities. According to reporting by Bloomberg and the federal economics ministry, the strategy sets direction rather than guarantees, which is the honest way to read it.