Ryanair threatens to reduce flights in France as tax increases back on agenda

Irish budget airline Ryanair is threatening to reduce its coverage in France if the government increases the tax on airline tickets.

The government has included a tax increase on air travel - la taxe de solidarité sur les billets d’avion (TSBA) - in the 2025 budget. As of this afternoon (February 6), the budget is approved by the senate and will be provided to the Constitutional Council for review.

The changes were first revealed in the previous government’s draft budget (under Michel Barnier), and are now projected to generate €800-€850 million in additional revenue. 

The new Minister for Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, has said she is in favour of a rise in the tax, and will consider the move in the forthcoming new budget.

“I am in favour. It is a measure of fiscal and ecological justice,” she told Le Parisien on January 5. “The 20% of the population with the highest incomes are responsible for more than half the expenditure on air travel.”

Read also: Flight taxes: French minister in favour of raising controversial fees 

‘France is already a high-tax country’

Yet, Ryanair has led the charge in opposing the move.

“France is already a high-tax country and if it increases already high taxes further, we will probably reduce our capacity [to and from French airports],” said Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary at a press conference in Lisbon on Wednesday, February 5.

“France is going against the tide,” he said, adding that other European countries are reducing aviation taxes. “Europe will not become more efficient or more competitive by over-taxing air fares.”

The budget includes a rise from €2.63 to €7.40 for an economy class ticket within France or Europe. 

It could also see a rise from €7.50 to as much as €40 for destinations more than 5,500 km away.

Read also: France reviews air taxes: what increases are proposed for UK and US flights? 

Ryanair has made it clear from the start that it intends to take decisive action against the tax, should it go ahead.

In a press release issued on November 20, 2024, Ryanair director Jason McGuinness said: “We will be closing…routes because, with this tax they are not economically viable.” 

At the time, Ryanair threatened to halve its routes to and from France.

“Instead, our planes will fly to countries like Spain and Poland, where there is no aviation tax, or Italy, Hungary and Sweden, which have abolished them,” Mr McGuinness added.

Ryanair does have a history of taking clear action in countries with lower airline taxes. For example, as Sweden abolished airline taxes Ryanair opened 10 new routes to the country as well adding two bases for its aircraft there.

Read also: Ryanair threatens to end flights to ten regional French airports over tax plan
Read also: Bordeaux airport: ‘Ryanair pulling out was our worst-case scenario’ 

In contrast, in October 2024, Ryanair closed its hub at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport, ending all flights to and from the city in a dispute over fleet basing costs.

And in December, the airline cancelled its plans to run routes from Paris Orly airport to Bratislava (Slovakia) and Bergamo (Italy), after Mr O’Leary reportedly “vetoed” the services.

Other airline opposition

Ryanair is not the only airline industry company to find fault with the proposed tax increase.

Representatives from both airlines and airports have protested against the issue for several months, saying that they will cause a loss of competitiveness, impact the economy as a whole, and cause airlines and passengers to use airports in neighbouring European countries instead.

One industry manager told Le Parisien in January that the fee would render French airlines, particularly Air France, non-competitive, saying “companies will prefer to take off from other European airports in order to keep prices low.”

When the government fell and the budget did not go ahead as planned, Air France - which had also stated its opposition to the tax increases - began issuing refunds to passengers who had bought tickets for flights scheduled for after January 1.

Read also: Airline passenger refunds due as ticket tax rise cancelled by French government fall

Air France had already started to pass the extra taxes onto customers so needed to issue refunds when the changes did not happen.