French regional airports’ anxious wait for Ryanair decision
The low-cost airline may pull out of many of the 22 French airports it serves
EasyJet says it is “extremely disappointed by the increase” but has no plans to leave France
Dan Shachar / Shutterstock
Regional airports are waiting to hear if budget airline Ryanair will follow through with its threat to pull out of many of the 22 French sites it serves, after the government nearly trebled ticket taxes.
The taxe de solidarité sur les billets d’avion (TSBA) will go up in March from €2.63 to €7.40 for every economy class passenger boarding a flight from France to a destination elsewhere in Europe.
France's TSBA tax
The TSBA, also called taxe Chirac after the president at the time, was introduced in 2006 to raise money so medicines could be distributed in developing countries.
Part of it now also goes towards rail, road and water transport infrastructure in France.
It will rise to €15 for medium-length flights and €40 for long-haul flights.
In November, when a rise in the tax was first included in the budget bill on ecological grounds, Ryanair announced that it would “reduce the capacity to and from French airports by up to 50% from January 2025” if the plan to triple the tax went ahead.
It asked the government to abandon its plans in order “to protect investments, connectivity, tourism and jobs across all of France”.
The firm did not say which of the 22 French airports it used in 2024 would be affected but it was widely interpreted as referring to about 10 regional airports.
Read more: EasyJet, Ryanair, Air France: which airlines fared worst for late flights in 2024?
Smaller airports that Ryanair has been serving include Limoges, Carcassonne, La Rochelle, Lourdes/Tarbes, Béziers, Biarritz, Rodez, Nantes and Brive.
It is stopping flights from the Danish airport Aalborg in March after a similar tax was imposed in Denmark.
France’s 2025 budget, including the ticket tax rise, was passed at the start of February.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said at the time: “France is already a high-tax country and if it increases already-high taxes further, we will probably reduce capacity.
“France is going against the tide... Europe will not become more efficient or more competitive by overtaxing air fares.”
However, Ryanair did not respond when we asked what it plans to do. Airports were also left in the dark.
“I have had no information,” said Thomas Juin, director of La Rochelle airport and president of airports’ trade body Union des aéroports français.
Read more: EasyJet confirms closure of Toulouse base from April: UK flight maintained
“We just have to wait to see what they will do.”
Ryanair also complained in January that problems at Boeing, its main aircraft supplier, meant it could not develop as it would like.
In autumn 2024 it pulled out of Bordeaux airport after a row over fees.
In January, the airport said the number of people using the airport was down 13% as a result.
British firm easyJet has no plans to leave French airports but a spokeswoman said it was “extremely disappointed by the increase”.
The measure was creating a sense of “uncertainty” which was “no longer acceptable” and the firm is calling for “a proper review of transport funding and taxation of the air transport sector”, she said.
EasyJet said higher tax would mean “higher fares”, “less connectivity in French regions” and “an impact on the local tourism industry and economy”.
It would limit airlines’ ability to invest in France and eco-friendly improvements. Some tourists would choose other, cheaper destinations.
