Air travel taxes: Angry at the increase in taxes on airline tickets, Ryanair reduces its activities in France

Ryanair is making good on its threats. Having been at war for months against the increase in the air ticket tax (TSBA), the Irish low-cost airline announced on Wednesday, July 30, that it was reducing its operations in France. For its next winter schedule, which runs from November to March, Ryanair will reduce "its capacity in France by 13%," which will result in the elimination of 750,000 seats.

The company also announced that it will cancel 25 destinations and close its "operations at the airports of Bergerac [Dordogne] , Brive [Corrèze] and Strasbourg." This massive withdrawal follows the increase in the scale of the airline ticket tax (TSBA) in March, the company denounces. An increase incompatible, according to Ryanair, with the very low margins generated by airlines. They would have only increased by "2% to 3% compared to 2019, the last year before Covid" , reports Jason McGuinness, commercial director of the low-cost airline, to Le Monde . On average, reports Thomas Juin, president of the Union of French Airports (UAF), "the companies generate a margin of 6 euros per passenger while the TSBA is now 7 euros per airline ticket. This is played out within a few euros of taxation" .

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