Conservative proposals to curb the growth in pollution from air travel have prompted a hostile response from airlines.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the plan was to hit frequent fliers rather than those heading abroad for their annual holiday.
But Flybe said the proposals are a "full-frontal attack on ordinary traveller", while Labour accused the Conservatives of headline-grabbing.
Sunday's Tory consultation document floats the imposition of fuel duty and/or VAT on domestic flights.
Or air passenger duty could be replaced with a per-flight tax based on actual carbon emissions.
There could also be an annual 'green air miles allowance' which those who fly more frequently pay at a higher rate.
Writing in the document, Osborne said that "the case for acting now to reduce the future growth in greenhouse gas emissions from aviation is compelling".
"In particular, air passenger duty is not directly linked to carbon emissions and provides no incentives for airlines to use more fuel-efficient aircraft," he said.
"I want to consult with the industry, with environmental groups, and with the public in order to create a sustainable regime of aviation taxation that has broad support."
And he told BBC1's Politics Show that the aim "is not to tax low income people out of their holidays"
Airlines angered
But the plans have angered major British airlines.
Flybe said in a statement: "Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne's proposals are a full-frontal attack on ordinary travellers, bad for the economy and a Luddite attempt to turn the clock back to a time when air travel was the preserve of the rich.
"Mr Osborne betrays his lack of knowledge about the UK regional economy by proposing London-centric taxes that will put at risk the economic regeneration of the UK regions.
"These taxes will make the UK less competitive as they are not being adopted in Europe and do not take account of our mobile workforce where families have had to move away from their support network and rely on regional air travel to keep in touch."
The proposal was "in effect saying the masses can go camping, while the rich who can afford to pay his taxes can enjoy the freedom brought by aviation", added the airline.
Virgin Atlantic communications director Paul Charles said that taxing passengers more "would damage the UK economy as it would make UK airlines less competitive and shift jobs to other countries in Europe which will have more attractive airports for passengers to fly to and from".
British Airways said: "As with the current air passenger duty, we believe taxation is an extremely blunt instrument in terms of reducing carbon emissions."
Headlines
Transport secretary Douglas Alexander said the plans were not properly thought through.
"These proposals again reveal that today's Conservatives are more interested in making a headline than making a difference," he said.
"There is no evidence they have thought through these proposals.
"At the most basic level the taxation of aviation fuel is governed by international law and cannot be changed at a whim."
And a Treasury spokesman said: "It is highly questionable whether these proposals would have the intended effect on emissions from aviation - for example, domestic taxation of aviation fuel in the UK would only lead to importation of fuel from countries where tax is not levied."
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vincent Cable, meanwhile, said the Conservative document "goes no further than what the Tories were saying before".
"Unlike the Liberal Democrats, they have not committed themselves to saying how the tax will be applied - we say there should be a tax on the aircraft, not the passenger," he added.
"They will not say how much they expect to raise, and they will not say what they expect to do with the revenue."
