Ryanair Cuts Flights in France After Tax Hike, Morocco Routes Affected

Applicable since March 1, the air ticket tax or TSBA which has gone from €2.63 to €7.4 for domestic and European flights is part of the 2025 budget of the Bayrou government. This increase could bring in €800 to €850 million to the French state, reports Air Journal. However, this measure has forced Ryanair to decide to reduce its capacity in the French regions this year "by 4 or 5%," said Michael O’Leary, on the sidelines of a meeting of the European airline lobby A4E in Brussels, without providing further details.

A reduction however less drastic than what the company had planned. The low-cost airline had warned that it would disengage from up to 10 regional French airport platforms. It has canceled several routes, including the one from Vatry airport to Marrakech.

In Michael O’Leary’s eyes, "France is a market that is not competitive," in particular due to the tripling of the TSBA applied in the 2025 budget, which will undermine its attractiveness, unlike for example Italy. "On the one hand, we can’t ask Europe to be more competitive, and on the other hand have national governments taxing air tickets to death," argued the business leader. He will add: "this year, for example, in Italy, we will go from 60 to 65 million passengers. In France, we will reduce I think from 12 to 11 million".