Starting next month it’s going to cost more to fly from French airports, and for passengers who buy business or first-class tickets for long-haul flights it’s going to get super-expensive.
As part of its new austerity budget, the French government has set up a new rate chart for the tax which was first imposed in 2005. The present rate of €2.63 per intra-Europe economy tickets and €18 for premium tickets will jump to €7.30 and €30. For longer distances, the economy-seat tax will be €15 and for flights over 5,500km it will be €40. Rates have not been confirmed for business and first on longer itineraries, but business journals have been estimating between €220 and €420 for the intermediate distances and €1000 to €2000 on long-haul.
There have been objections from traveler and airline groups; the loudest has come from ultra low-cost carrier Ryanair, which has threatened to cancel large swathes of its schedule in France over the tax and hikes in airport fees.
