Ryanair is putting its two cents into the discussions on the 2025 budget defended by Prime Minister Michel Barnier. And the airline put pressure on it on Wednesday so as not to have to pay more.
The Irish low-cost carrier has thus threatened to stop serving ten French regional airports from January 1 if increased taxation of the air sector is included in the 2025 budget.
A list not yet revealed
“Ryanair is currently reviewing its French programs and expects to reduce capacity to and from French regional airports by up to 50% from January 2025 if the French government continues its short-sighted project,” the commercial director said. of the company, Jason McGuinness.
Ryanair currently serves 22 airports in France, including two close to the Paris region: Beauvais (Oise) and Vatry (Marne). The regional airports affected by the end of operations would be among the 20 others. Ryanair, however, did not cite any on Wednesday. The company also did not wish to say to what extent its total supply in France would be reduced if it carried out its threat. It hopes to transport 5.7 million people there this year, 19% more than in 2023.
In search of funds to reduce a larger-than-expected budget deficit, the government included in its 2025 finance bill (PLF) a tripling of the solidarity tax on plane tickets (TSBA) and an increase of the taxation of private jet passengers, for a total of one billion euros.
Profitability problems
“The impact of increasing taxes on passengers will be most detrimental for regional France, which depends on competitive access costs,” argued Jason McGuinness, estimating that this “will make many routes to and from the regions non-viable French companies. At the beginning of November, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary had already revealed that his company was reducing capacity in France and Germany, two countries having increased taxation on the airline sector or planning to do so.
Our file on public finances
According to the National Federation of Aviation and its Trades (Fnam), the increase in the TSBA, which companies will have to pass on to the price of tickets, “could lead to a reduction in traffic in 2025 of 2% on average over the 'entire territory'. And this decline could be even stronger at certain airports, particularly those welcoming low-cost airlines whose customers are more price sensitive.
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