It was a predictable reaction. The ultra-low-cost airline Ryanair has just announced that it may drastically reduce its offering in France if the government implements its proposed law to increase the TSBA. In a press release, Ryanair urges the French government to abandon its plan to increase passenger taxes by 260% from 1 January.er January 2025.
Ryanair's threats
The company argues that this increase in passenger tax is anti-growth. In its view, it represents a targeted attack on ordinary French citizens and regional France. Citing the loss of competitiveness of France as a destination, both economically and in terms of tourism, Ryanair says it will draw all the consequences.
The Irish airline is currently reviewing its schedules in France and " expects " à reduce its capacity to and from French regional airports by 50 % from January 2025. If the French government goes ahead with its plan to triple passenger taxes. Jason McGuinness, Ryanair's commercial director, justified this retaliatory measure: "The French government's proposal to increase its already excessive passenger tax is short-sighted, ill-conceived and designed to further derail the recovery of the French aviation industry. France and Germany are among Europe's worst-performing aviation markets. With these recent increases in aviation taxes, they will fall even further behind competing economies such as Spain and Poland, where there are no taxes, as well as Italy, Sweden and Hungary, which have abolished aviation taxes".
In France, according to statistics from the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC), Ryanair is the second largest low-cost carrier with 15.14 million passengers. Its traffic grew by 40% between 2019 and 2023. Only easyJet is doing better, with more than 23.2 million passengers, ahead of Transavia, the third biggest low-cost player in France. The Air France subsidiary carried 12.5 million passengers in 2023.
Ryanair, for example, serves 25 destinations from Paris-Beauvais, 22 from Toulouse and 21 from Marseille. At an airport like Limoges, Ryanair operates three of the four destinations linked to the capital of the Limousin region.
Low-cost, an essential segment of regional air transport in France
According to the Union of French Airports (UAF), low-cost traffic is an essential part of the airline business in France. It accounts for 43.2% of airport passenger traffic in mainland France (compared with 35.1% in 2019). But its share is actually higher in the regions. At the major regional airports, low-cost generates 61.4% of passenger traffic. At local airports such as Béziers, Dole and Poitiers, for example, this share rises to 60.8%, while at regional hubs such as Lille, Montpellier and Strasbourg, low-cost traffic accounts for 56.7% of the total number of passengers. In contrast, low-cost traffic generates only 29% of the total number of passengers at Orly and Roissy-CDG airports. UAF thus lists 17 airports whose low-cost traffic exceeds 70% market share.
Will the threat posed by Ryanair, which has already been applied in Germany, change the French government's position? Nothing is less certain, as there is a certain hostility towards Ryanair. Many politicians and civil servants regard the airline as a "rogue" company because of the pressure it puts on local economic players. But what will be said by the regions and cities, which also see the benefits that Ryanair brings to the local economy? The debate between Paris and the regions remains open.
French airports where low-cost services generate more than 70% of passenger traffic
