Dunno, over here car users pay around a 65 euro cent energy tax (aka carbon tax) per liter gasoline. It is a bit less for diesel (47 cent). Quite a bit more expensive than what airlines have to pay.
Since fuel prices are going up five times faster than the average inflation for the last 10 years the politicians had to stop any further increase in carbon tax or they would have lost the next election. Airlines are a cheap target though, anybody knows they just absolutely pollute the world, don't they? Therefore it is the second tax in two years that supposedly helps the environment which applies to airlines. I surely hope the chinese and american airlines can win this war, it would in turn help our airlines over here as well.