It's a bitter assessment Union of French Airports (UAF) in the light of the 2025 results for French airports. France's air transport industry is in a bad way. And the outlook is hardly encouraging, particularly in view of rising oil prices. In 2025, French airport traffic has painfully reached 210.5 million passengers (+2.3 % over one year), but remains below its 2019 level (-1.8 %), while the majority of European countries have now exceeded their pre-crisis traffic levels. Excluding the results of the French overseas airports, the total number of passengers flirted with 198 million, up 2.3% on 2024 but still -1.7% below 2019. However, if we compare France's performance with that of the rest of the European Union, France is now in the bottom group in terms of air transport growth.
France lags behind Europe
In fact, by 2025, EU air traffic will be 6.6 % higher than in 2019. Mediterranean Europe is on a roll, with double-digit growth rates. Compared with 2019, the number of passengers is 28.3% higher in Greece, 23.9% higher in Croatia, 22.6% higher in Portugal, 18.7% higher in Italy and 17% higher in Spain.
Central Europe has also performed remarkably well. Between 2019 and 2025, passenger traffic jumped by 39.9% in Poland - an all-time record in the EU -, by 21.6% in Hungary and by 18.2% in the Czech Republic. Western Europe posted more modest results, with average growth rates of between 1% and 2% compared with 2019. The only exceptions are Ireland, which is booming (+12.3%), and Germany, Finland and Sweden, where the collapse in traffic is taking on alarming proportions, with a fall in passenger numbers of -14.1 %, -21.2% and -22.2% respectively.
In detail, French air traffic has developed unevenly from one region to another and from one airport to another. The best results were achieved where low-cost services remained strong. Among the 15 million-dollar airports, the strongest growth between 2019 and 2025 goes to Beauvais, with a jump of +67.6%, Marseille at +11.5%, Orly at +9.7% and Basel-Mulhouse at +5.9%.
On the other hand, the two main airports in the south-west, Toulouse and Bordeaux, are seeing a real erosion in their traffic. From 2019 to 2025, the two hubs lost -20.8% and -23.8% of their passengers respectively. The decline accelerated at Bordeaux last year, due to the increase in charges decided by the airport as well as the sharp rise in taxation with the TSBA, applied since 1 March 2025. Bordeaux lost Ryanair at the end of 2024 and saw its traffic plummet by almost 11% last year...
According to Thomas Juin, Director of La Rochelle Airport and also President of UAF, the heavy tax burden combined with the disappearance of Air France in the regions are two extremely negative factors in the development of air traffic.
.aeroports-table-wrap { width: 100%; overflow-x: auto; -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch; } .aeroports-table { width: 100%; min-width: 760px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: #222; background: #fff; } .aeroports-table th, .aeroports-table td { border: 1px solid #444; padding: 8px 10px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap; } .aeroports-table thead th { background: #f2c200; color: #000; font-weight: 700; } .aeroports-table tbody td:first-child { background: #f2c200; font-weight: 700; } .aeroports-table tbody td:nth-child(2) { font-weight: 700; text-align: left; white-space: normal; } @media (max-width: 768px) { .aeroports-table { font-size: 13px; min-width: 680px; } .aeroports-table th, .aeroports-table td { padding: 6px 8px; } } @media (max-width: 480px) { .aeroports-table { font-size: 12px; min-width: 620px; } .aeroports-table th, .aeroports-table td { padding: 5px 6px; } }| n° | Airports | Pax | % 2025/2024 | % 2025/2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris-Charles de Gaulle | 72 029 407 | 2.5% | -5.4% |
| 2 | Paris - Orly | 34 928 909 | 5.5% | 9.7% |
| 3 | Nice Côte d'Azur | 15 229 664 | 3.2% | 5.1% |
| 4 | Marseille Provence | 11 322 405 | 1.4% | 11.5% |
| 5 | Lyon-Saint Exupéry | 10 709 883 | 2.4% | -8.8% |
| 6 | Basel - Mulhouse | 9 629 416 | 8.0% | 5.9% |
| 7 | Toulouse - Blagnac | 7 621 409 | -2.8% | -20.8% |
| 8 | Nantes Atlantique | 7 189 480 | 2.6% | -0.5% |
| 9 | Paris - Beauvais | 6 677 608 | 1.8% | 67.6% |
| 10 | Bordeaux | 5 873 548 | -10.9% | -23.8% |
| 11 | Lille - Lesquin | 1 705 709 | -5.0% | -22.1% |
| 12 | Montpellier Mediterranean | 1 689 501 | -6.1% | -12.7% |
| 13 | Ajaccio - Napoleon Bonaparte | 1 593 011 | -0.8% | -1.6% |
| 14 | Bastia - Poretta | 1 532 265 | 2.8% | -1.7% |
| 15 | Strasbourg | 1 305 867 | 6.0% | 0.3% |
(Information: UAF)
Taxation reduces low-cost airlines' interest in France
UAF points out that the massive increase in taxation has directly increased operating costs by reducing the attractiveness of French airports. Increased taxation has weighed on airlines' decisions to locate and expand. Low-cost airlines have now become the "lifeline" for regional services. They generate 44.7 % of traffic in France. Their share even rises to 63 %, if we exclude the Paris-CDG hub, where low-cost airlines are poorly represented.
The increase in taxation has led to the closure of routes by low-cost carriers, which are now reluctant to offer new services to France, preferring more profitable markets such as Spain.
This situation is exacerbated by Air France's withdrawal from the regions, depriving airports outside Paris in part of a stable offer. This withdrawal is reducing regional accessibility, penalising business travel and weakening the entire regional airport ecosystem, says UAF.
A new danger is now looming on the horizon: the Gulf War, which is causing world oil prices to soar. The rise in the price of paraffin, which has doubled to around 1,700 dollars a tonne, is putting considerable pressure on airlines. Against this backdrop, air transport in France, already weakened by excessive taxation, is likely to feel the full force of any shock to demand.
Speaking on France Info, Thomas Juin said: " We are already seeing a contraction in traffic and capacity, particularly on routes to the Middle East and Asia. The Gulf carriers have drastically reduced their capacity, and this reduction is not being offset elsewhere. But above all, with the price of paraffin doubling and currently accounting for around 25 % of operating costs, some routes, particularly domestic or regional, could no longer be profitable. And disappear ".
He added that some airlines could also decide not to open or increase planned routes. This could represent several hundred thousand fewer seats. In terms of traffic trends, Thomas Juin is seeing a wait-and-see attitude on long-haul routes, with passengers switching to closer destinations. However, this should push up fares on short and medium-haul routes, as demand will not be accompanied by an increase in supply.
