A budget airline has revealed plans to halt flights from several European airports.Ryanair has cited tax changes in France as the reason and voiced its disapproval over increased taxes across the country.
Earlier this year, a number of regional airports were already dropped from their schedule, including Strasbourg, Bergerac, and Vatry. Ryanair’s commercial director, Jason McGuinness, says more French airports are set to be added to this list in the upcoming months. In an interview with French magazine Challenges, he stated that a 180% tax hike rendered regional airports ‘unviable’ for the airline. The 2025 Budget introduced by the French government includes a tax increase for air travel, adding an additional cost of 4.77euros per ticket for both domestic and European flights departing from France. Mr McGuinness said, in comments about plans for 2026: “We will be leaving several regional airports in France this summer. When you increase taxes by 180%, it makes these airports unviable for us.” The French tax rise also implies that long-haul business-class tickets will incur up to an extra £106.
Initially, the French government argued that the higher taxes would yield financial benefits, but it has met with considerable resistance from various sectors of the aviation industry.
Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, had previously told Le Parisien that the airline would reduce its travel capacity across France if the government opted to increase taxes related to air travel.
He labelled a significant tax hike on air travel as ‘unjustified’, arguing that the sector doesn’t generate a substantial amount of revenue.
The airline’s chief suggested that Ryanair could potentially double its annual passenger numbers in France by 2030, if the government were to abolish the taxes.
However, he cautioned that there are more appealing options elsewhere and threatened further capacity reductions if taxes were to increase again.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot responded to Ryanair’s announcement, accusing the carrier of employing ‘aggressive’ tactics to “evade their obligations”.
This dispute arises even as Ryanair has reduced its winter capacity in France by 11%, whilst adding 31,000 additional flights and six million extra seats compared to last winter.
These capacity reductions come after an increase in aviation taxes and the loss of roughly 7.3 million passengers due to disruptions in French Air Traffic Control (ATC).
Strasbourg, Vatry, Bergerac, and Brive have seen services virtually wiped out by the airline, while Beziers lost over 100 flights during the winter season.