Tax on plane tickets: the government “favorable” to an increase

With the crash of Michel Barnier, the airlines thought they would escape the sentence. It was really just a respite. In an exclusive interview with our newspaper, the new Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, announces her desire to keep the increase in the tax on airline tickets (TSBA). “I am in favor of it. It is a measure of fiscal and ecological justice. The top 20% of the population is responsible for more than half of air travel spending,” she says.

The measure appeared in the budget drawn up by the government of Michel Barnier, before its censorship. Air France, Air Caraibes, French Bee, Corsair and even Fly Emirates had passed on this increase in “anticipation”. The fall of the government ultimately rendered the measure obsolete. All carriers then committed to reimbursing customers who paid an excess.

“Who can believe that this is how we will reduce the deficit? »

Its return will provoke the wrath of airlines, all of which have already shown their firm opposition and activated powerful lobbying to see the measure disappear. Ryanair, Europe’s leading carrier, even went so far as to threaten to reduce its presence in France “by half”. “We hoped that the government would realize the danger of applying such an idea, this is clearly not the case,” laments a major leader in the airline sector. The risk is that only the rich will be able to buy tickets tomorrow. Who can believe that it is thanks to this that we will reduce the country’s deficit? »

In the latest version of the budget, the government planned to double annual revenues linked to the TSBA, also called the “Chirac tax”, from around 500 million euros to 1 billion euros. This additional cost, for the carriers, must therefore be passed on to the consumer. According to calculations carried out by Air France in 2024, for domestic flights and in Europe, the cost of the tax would increase from 2.63 euros to 9.50 euros for economy class tickets and from 20.27 euros to 30 euros for Business.

“We are already the country that taxes the most”

Concerning other flights of less than 5,500 km, the tax would increase from 7.51 euros to 15 euros in economy and from 63.07 euros to 80 euros in business class. Finally, for trips beyond 5,500 km, the increase would be even greater: from 7.51 euros to 40 euros in economy, and from 63.07 euros to 120 euros in Business and Première. This remains, despite everything, quite low in proportion, especially for these latter tickets often sold for several thousand euros.