Qantas will have to raise international airfares to Europe from January next year after the European Union penalised the airline because Australia does not have a price on greenhouse gas emissions.
Under changes to the EU's emissions trading scheme, Qantas would be forced to pay a tax on 15 per cent of its carbon emissions from its nearest port of call, the national carrier told a meeting of business leaders in Canberra this week.
This means flights to ports as far away as Singapore and Bangkok would be taxed under a "border tax" adjustment contained in the EU scheme.
Qantas confirmed it would be hit by the impost, The Weekend Australian reported on Saturday.
The airline is still calculating the likely impact on ticket prices and a spokeswoman said the carrier would face a second carbon hit on flights into Britain when Britain's "green tax" took effect.
Qantas would be faced with the tax because its headquarters is in Australia, which does not have a price on carbon.
The charge would be levied on the airline's last port of departure, which in Qantas's case would be Bangkok or Singapore.
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