Airline ticket surcharge: government plans to triple it, so how much will you pay ?

The State plans to increase the tax on tickets plane by three. He thus hopes to recover a billion euros on air transport to contribute to mopping up the public deficit.

"The State has confirmed its intention to recover a billion euros via the air transport sector", declares Laurent Timsit, general delegate of the Fnam (National Federation of Merchant Aviation). This sector, which employs 100,000 people, is concerned about the planned increase in a tax on airline tickets, one of the tax levers considered by the government to limit the public deficit, indicates Ouest-France.

This initiative is partly confirmed by the Ministry of the Economy, which acknowledges that it aims to “taxation of particularly polluting transport.”

According to the Fnam, the government is considering increasing the “solidarity tax”, or “Chirac tax”, introduced in 2006 to finance international solidarity, and which currently generates 460 million euros per year. “Triple it would amount to increasing its yield by a billion”, explains Laurent Timsit.

It varies depending on the destination

This tax, paid by airlines for each passenger departing from France, varies depending on the destination (Europe or outside Europe) and the travel class (economy or business).

It ranges from €2.63 per ticket (economy class to the European Union) to €63 (business class outside Europe). Tripling these amounts would therefore have a direct impact on passengers, because the companies will not be able to absorb such a significant increase.

"This would further weaken French air transport and discourage tourists, which would reduce state revenue. It is a false good idea", warns Laurent Timsit. Environmental associations, for their part, support this tax.