France's parliament approved a tax on airline tickets to finance aid for developing countries, particularly for health-related problems such as AIDS and malaria, and the French government will host a conference next month to persuade other countries to do the same.

More than 60 countries already have endorsed the idea in principle. But it remains to be seen how many of them follow through with the controversial tax, which has been blasted by airlines as an unfair cost that could reduce the number of travelers and tourists and hurt developing countries in the process.

The tax, which countries supporting the measure call a "solidarity contribution", takes effect in France on July 1.

The tax will apply to any ticketed itinerary in which a customer boards a flight in France, except for travelers landing in France to connect to a destination other than their original point of departure within 12 hours .That means, for example, that the tax will be added to tickets booked in the U.S. if the airline itinerary includes a nonconnecting flight from France.

As with many other taxes and fees, airlines will be responsible for collecting the tax and turning it over to the government, which is putting it in a special fund dedicated to development.

Your tax will vary ...

France's tax will range from 1 euro, or $1.19 at current exchange rates, to 40 euros, or $47.43, depending on service area and class of ticket.

In particular, France will charge travelers within the European economic space -- an area that includes more countries than the European Union -- 1 euro when flying in economy and 10 euros ($11.86) for business and first.

For flights outside the European economic space, such as the U.S., France will charge 4 euros ($4.74) for economy and 40 euros ($47.43) for business and first.

French officials insist those amounts are low enough to avoid reducing consumer demand for air travel -- or at least to avoid reducing it enough to matter.

"Strong projected growth in overall traffic volume [worldwide] suggests the impact on demand could be easily absorbed," the French government said. "In a worst-case scenario, it could be equivalent to less than a year in traffic volume growth."

As to why airline travelers should be asked to pay, French officials explain it this way:

"In both developed and developing countries, airline passengers seldom belong to the poorest segments of the population. A contribution on plane tickets would therefore be progressive, a characteristic which could be reinforced if higher rates were to be set for business and first class passengers."

France is going ahead with the tax in spite of the vehement opposition of many of the world's airlines. Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA, has repeatedly blasted the proposal, and early last summer he proposed that France find money for development instead by reducing its subsidies for French farmers.

"Airlines support the fundamentals of development by bringing tourists to destinations and transporting goods to markets," Bisignani said. "Making air travel more expensive is akin to biting the very hand that feeds development."

Other countries likely to follow

The tax is not solely France's idea.

The presidents of Brazil, Chile and France set it in motion in January 2004 when they established a United Nations-supported group to look for alternative methods for financing development for the U.N.'s "millennium development goals."

The leaders of Spain, Germany and Algeria joined the "Lula Group," named after Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and by June 2005 they closed ranks on a proposal for a "solidarity contribution" on airline tickets.

In September, at least 66 governments signed the group's "Declaration on Innovative Sources of Financing for Development," which includes a promise to "work on and pursue the project of a solidarity contribution levied on air tickets for global sustainable development, as supported by Brazil, Chile, France and Germany."

The declaration added that the amount of the contribution "should be set at levels that would minimize impacts on airlines, tourism industry and travelers."

The U.S. did not sign, but the signatories included major trading partners such as Germany and the U.K.
Chile may become the first to implement the tax, at $2, but it is France and its president, Jacques Chirac, who have been campaigning the hardest to get other countries to adopt it.

France has invited 79 countries to a conference in Paris from Feb. 28 to March 1 on "innovative sources of financing development," at which delegates will discuss the declaration and their progress in implementing its proposals.

"Countries willing to implement this probably will present their plan," said Agnes von der Muhll, a spokeswoman for the French Embassy in Washington.