“It ruins everything”: collateral victim of the e-commerce tax, Vatry airport cuts 17 positions

For several weeks the tarmac at Paris-Vatry airport (Marne) has been deserted. Platform of choice for e-commerce giants, the site is today one of the victims of the tax on small imported packages. Since March 1, 2026, it has hit logistics flows hard. The result is clear: a 65% drop (in volume) in freight in less than ten weeks on the Marne structure.

For Jean-Marc Roze, president (DVD) of the Marne departmental council, the situation is absurd. “This tax is ruining everything, pallets of small packages from Shein or Temu now transit through Belgium to avoid it. Then we extend truck journeys, we pollute the roads, it’s completely crazy! » the elected official is indignant.

The figures speak for themselves: the airport handled 2,000 tonnes in January, it quickly fell to 800 tonnes with the introduction of the tax. However, the potential is there. With its XXL runway capable of accommodating Boeing 777s or NATO Airbuses, XCR Airport could handle 150,000 tonnes per year. “And even at 50,000 tonnes, we would live without any subsidies,” recalls Jean-Marc Roze.

“We were refused partial unemployment”

The emergency today is social. Due to lack of activity, management announced a redundancy plan. Of the 97 employees, seventeen will lose their jobs in June: nine permanent contracts, five end of trial period and three on apprenticeship contracts. These are supervisors, managers or employees. A decision taken to limit damage. “We wanted to implement partial unemployment but this was refused to us,” says Jean-Marc Roze with bitterness. The blow is all the harder since the airport had rehired at the end of 2025 to absorb the expected growth in freight. To survive, the site will have to scale back from June: closing on Sundays and end of operations at 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Hope rests on intervention at the highest level of the state. Questioned during his visit to the Suippes military camp on April 30, President Emmanuel Macron promised support. “He told me that he was going to help me, that he was not going to let Vatry down. There is an emergency, but I have confidence in him,” confides Jean-Marc Roze, who hopes to arouse the interest of Aéroports de Paris (ADP) to redirect freight to the Marne.

In the meantime, the letter sent to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu remains without a concrete response. “We are told that we must set an example with this tax, but we are penalizing French families who order. And it has an impact on the airport, it is a strategic tool. It would be a shame to close it when in 5 years, it will be essential given the explosion of volumes in Paris airports,” concludes the president of the department.