Air France announced on Saturday its desire to integrate in advance the planned increase in the solidarity tax, known as the “Chirac tax”, into their reservation systems. This Tuesday, November 5, the airline group Air Caraibes / French bee indicated to Outremer la 1ʳᵉ its intention to align with this increase.
The finance bill has not yet been voted on and airlines are already activating their economic take-off lever. After Air France-KLM, it is the turn of Air Caraibes and French Bee to announce a future impact on the price of their plane tickets. “The airlines Air Caraibes and French Bee take note of the future increase in the so-called “Chirac” or TSBA solidarity tax, provided for in the finance bill for 2025. In the interest of transparency towards customers, the two companies have have chosen to integrate this potential increase into their reservation systems today, in alignment with the practices of other players in the sector“, indicated the airline group to Overseas 1ʳᵉ. To justify their choice, they specify having made this decision for the sake of transparency towards their customers.
They assure that this measure will allow travelers to have clear information on prices upon booking. This decision is taken in anticipation of the vote of the law to compensate for a possible shortfall, but the airline group undertakes to reimburse its customers in the event of a reduction in the tax. “In addition, if the final tax amount is reduced, any excess collected will be refunded,” specifies the group.
If the amount of this increase has not yet been communicated by Air Caraibes and French bee, the company specifies that “as companies committed to the economic development and connectivity of the overseas territories, the priority remains the preservation of the purchasing power of overseas residents.“Air France, for its part, indicates that it will apply an increase of more than 300%, increasing the amount of this tax from 2.63 euros to 9.50 euros. Aware of the challenges for the overseas territories, the two companies finally affirm their desire to actively participate in parliamentary discussions. Their objective is to explore avenues to reduce the impact of this tax on the purchasing power of overseas residents.
This decision by Air Caraibes and French bee comes in a context of debate on the increase in the solidarity tax which plans to increase the taxation of the aviation sector in France by one billion euros and which is already causing strong reactions , particularly from overseas elected officials. On Monday, the deputies of the New Popular Front (NFP), in a press release, asked Air France-KLM to exempt the overseas territories from this tax. “We ask the Air France-KLM group to renounce the anticipated increase in the tax on plane tickets (TSBA) provided for in the 2025 finance bill”, they wrote. It was without knowing that Air France-KLM would be followed by the other major company serving certain overseas airlines.
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