Planned French air travel tax hike will push up ticket prices, say easyJet
The tax increase would be part of the French government's efforts to reduce a €60bn deficit
Transport Minister François Durovray gave early indications of what the size of the increases may be
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A prospective increase in taxes on airlines in France could raise up to €1billion a year according to plans laid out by the new government, who said the tax would not increase flight prices. However easyJet said that it would ultimately be "passed on in the price of the ticket".
The taxes – which would be an increase on the solidarity taxes currently levied on plane tickets – would fluctuate depending on the length of journey and type of ticket purchased.
The tax increases are part of the new government’s budget, which is currently being assessed by the Assemblée nationale.
In an interview with French media outlet La Tribune however, Transport Minister François Durovray offered two examples, but a full list of increases is yet to be announced. The increases mentioned were:
“I don't think that [these taxes would upset the balance [of flights and demand],” in the sector, the minister said.
The “additional cost of €9.50 will remain absorbable in relation to the price of the ticket,” for flights in Europe and should not be directly passed onto travellers, the minister added.
In terms of the €120 rate, the minister said people flying on such a ticket were already “paying thousands of euros” for the seat.
There are also discussions on implementing a tax of €3,000 per passenger on private jets, but this has yet to be finalised.
Tax increase ‘will be passed onto passengers’
The minister said the tax is being levied for two reasons: “as [Michel Barnier, current prime minister] has said, we have to fight both the budget debt and the climate debt.”
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“We have abandoned the idea of VAT, which would have affected only French airlines and penalised our tourist destinations, in favour of a solidarity tax on airline tickets, distinguishing between different types of flights according to destination and service category.”
However, the aviation lobby group Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (GIFAS) are firmly opposed to the increase.
Tax increases would be “a brutal halt to the reindustrialisation of the sector,” and see passenger numbers fall, threatening post-Covid recovery, it said.
Low-cost airline easyJet believes it will price out passengers from flying.
The company “believes that the rapid and significant increase in taxes on airline tickets will have a direct impact on consumers‘ purchasing power and, in the medium term, will deprive middle-class households in particular of access to air travel,” it said in a press release (quoted by BFMTV).
“The increase in taxes will unfortunately be passed on in the price of the ticket,” said Bertrand Godinot, director of easyJet in France.
“Airlines cannot maintain and develop their range of destinations, employ local staff and invest in new aircraft for their environmental transition, while at the same time absorbing the full impact of such significant and rapid cost increases.”
“The increase in the tax on airline tickets is not a tax on companies but on individuals,” he added.
Read more: EasyJet announces 27 new international lines from France (4 are to UK)
