The government is not giving up. He wants the tax on air transport to be tripled and has even prepared an amendment to this effect to the finance bill for 2025 which will increase the solidarity tax on plane tickets (TSBA) – the famous “Chirac tax » –, with the aim of collecting 1 billion euros from 2025. This TSBA will apply to all flights departing from France.
Of the expected billion, no less than 850 million euros will be taken from regular French airlines. “It’s gigantic”we exclaim at Air France. The group alone will have to pay no less than 300 million euros, or 30% of the overall amount. He would prefer a tax freeze, because “2024 will be worse than 2023”and would like to increase its margin in order to repay a net debt estimated between 7 billion and 8 billion euros.
“We must expect the worst”for her part, is alarmed by Christine Ourmières-Widener, new president of Air Caraibes and French Bee, the two companies of the Dubreuil group. The financial impact will be “nearly 25 million euros on a turnover of 1 billion”. In total, it will be “nearly a third of the profits” of the company which will evaporate.
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“The weight of taxes is considerable”also denounces Pierre Muracciole, chairman of the board of Air Corsica. According to his calculations, “those already collected on behalf of the State represent 12% of turnover” of an airline. And “there is a trend towards their increase”he adds, predicting that, for his company, this will increase from 5 million euros to 15 million euros per year. Private jet operators will have to pay 150 million euros, notably through a levy of 3,000 euros per passenger.
Degraded “operational aspect”
This drain comes at the worst time for companies. Indeed, if “2023 was an extremely good year”as Air France recognizes, “2024 promises to be much more complicated”. Besides “geopolitical tensions”with the war in Ukraine which continues and the conflict in the Middle East, Air France also mentions “the significant negative impact of the Paris Olympic Games”estimated at 200 million euros.
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Above all, the increase in the TSBA comes at a time when the situation of companies is far from optimal. “The operational aspect” is degraded, observes the boss of Air Caraibes and French Bee. She wants it as proof “all the (…) logistical subjects which [la] penalize »dont “the chain of aeronautics subcontractors, which is struggling to get going again” since the Covid-19 pandemic.
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