Watch out for the new “eco-tax” on airline tickets for flights leaving French airports.
From 2020, a tax varying between 1.50 and 18 euro will apply to all flights departing France, (except toward Corsica and overseas departments and territories, and connecting flights) expected to raise government revenue by a hefty 182 million euros per year! This will apparently be invested invested in a greener transport infrastructure, and particularly rail.
The industry has been severely criticised for its carbon emissions of 280 grams of CO2 emitted per kilometre travelled by a passenger (depending on type of plane, how full it is, length of flight etc) which far exceed all other modes of transport.
Air France in particular reacted strongly to the news. In a press release, they stated “This tax represents an extra cost of more than 60 million euros per year for the Air France Group…..would be extremely penalising for Air France, 50% of whose activity is operated from France and especially for the domestic network whose losses have reached 180 million euros in 2018“.”
The UAF (Union of French Airports) say that these measure will “inevitably deteriorate the competitiveness of French airports, in particular regional airports…..For a large number of regional airports, with eco-contribution, the increase in taxation (almost 10 euros per passenger) is dramatic.”
