Flights leaving from France are set to get more expensive, with an increase in the taxes levied on plane tickets.
France has now passed its 2025 Budget - after a lot of political wrangling - and among the many new measures announced is an extra tax on plane tickets.
Explained: What France's 2025 Budget means for you
The cost of flight tickets in France has included a tax surcharge since 2005 - known as the "Chirac tax" after the former president Jacques Chirac, who introduced it.
The taxe sur la solidarité des billets d'avion (TSBA), to give it its proper name, has been increased several times and currently stands at €2.63 per economy class ticket for flights within France and Europe and €18 per business or first class ticket.
Under the 2025 Budget this will be more than doubled to €7.40 per standard class ticket on a flight within France or Europe, and €30 for a first class or business class ticket.
For destinations further afield the tax will rise to €15 per standard class ticket and for long haul flights - more than 5,500km - the tax for an economy class ticket will be €40.
For business class tickets the new tax will be more substantial and will also depend on the type of plane and the distance travelled. For destinations in France and Europe the tax on a business class seat could be between €220 and €420, according to the business journal Les Echos. For long haul destinations on private jets the new tax could amount to be between €1,000 and €2,000.
French lawmakers believe it will bring in around €800 million for state coffers.
The new taxes go into effect on March 1st, 2025 and will affect all tickets sold after that date.
The budget airline Ryanair has threatened to axe flights over this tax increase.
Speaking at a press conference in Portugal on Wednesday, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary repeated the threat, saying: "France is already a high-tax country and, therefore, if it further increases already high taxes, we will probably reduce our capacity” to and from French airports.
"France is going against the tide," while other European countries are cutting aviation taxes, he said.
The tax hike was first proposed in former prime minister Michel Barnier's budget, where it was proposed to increase it to €9.50 per ticket. Barnier's government fell in December, and with it his budget.
However the Budget passed on Thursday under new prime minister François Bayrou sees a return of the tax, albeit at a slightly lower rate than originally planned.
The tax is a flat rate added onto the cost of each ticket for a plane departing from mainland France. It does not cover flights departing from France's overseas territories (such as the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe), the finance ministry clarified on Thursday.
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