Low-cost airline Ryanair threatened Wednesday to cease serving 10 French regional airports if the federal government goes ahead with a proposed tax hike.
The French authorities is scrambling to plug a larger-than-expected finances deficit, and a tripling of a tax on airline tickets, in addition to non-public jets, is without doubt one of the measures presently into account.
“Ryanair is now reviewing its French schedules and expects to cut capacity to/from regional French airports by up to 50 percent from January 2025 if the French government proceeds with its short-sighted plan to triple passenger taxes,” Ryanair’s chief business officer Jason McGuinness stated in an announcement.
Ryanair presently operates flights at 22 smaller French regional airports. The 2 closest to Paris should not amongst these the place Ryanair would possibly minimize companies, however the airline didn’t point out that are threatened.
The Irish finances airline hopes to move 5.7 million individuals alongside its French routes this yr, a rise of 19 % from 2023.
Ryanair stated the tax enhance would fall most closely on passengers utilizing regional airports, that are primarily served by low-cost airways and the tax hike would have a bigger influence.
“The impact of increased passenger taxes will be most damaging for regional France which depends on competitive access costs,” McGuinness stated.
He added that there was fierce competitors between regional airports and Ryanair would shift operations to airports that might assist it cut back prices.
