“A market not competitive”: Ryanair will “reduce” its operations in France

Bordeaux, the Marne … Ryanair will “reduce” its operations in France, but not cease to serve ten regional airports as she had uttered the threat against the backdrop of the tax burden, said the boss of the Irish airline on Thursday. “We are going to reduce our capacities in the region in France this year by 4 or 5 %,” said Michael O’Leary, on the sidelines of a European A4E airline lobby meeting in Brussels.

“The sad truth is that France does not grow as much” as other European countries, said the leader of the low -cost company, the first of the old continent in number of passengers transported. “This year, for example, in Italy, we will go from 60 to 65 million passengers. In France, we will reduce I think of 12 to 11 million, “he detailed.

For Michael O’Leary, “France is a market that is not competitive”, in particular since the tripling of the solidarity tax on plane tickets applied in the 2025 budget. During parliamentary debates on this text, last November, Ryanair had threatened to stop serving ten French regional airports. But Michael O’Leary pointed out on Thursday that this would not be the case.

Governments that “tax death”

“No, no, no. We will always fly to France, but simply with lower capacities, ”he said. Ryanair will however close its Bordeaux database, a long-term planned decision, while the Marne Department announced in mid-March that the carrier would leave Vatry airport at the end of the month, due to the increase in taxation.

The Union of French Airports (UAF) warned against the risk of seeing low -cost airlines, which weigh more than 99 % of Beauvais, Carcassonne, Béziers and Nîmes activity, turning from France due to the increase in this tax.