Ryanair says dropping three French airports over ticket tax
The company added that over the winter it also intended to reduce flights from its other French regional airports, by up to 33 percent, although its main hubs in Paris-Beauvais, Toulouse and Marseille would see a decrease of around 10 percent. It has not provided details on which routes would be affected.
A statement from the company said: "This astronomical tax makes France less attractive than other countries in the EU such as Ireland, Spain or Poland, which impose no such taxes."
The company appears to be referring to an increase in the 'eco tax' which France charges on plane tickets - the
taxe sur les billets d'avion
(TSBA) which was introduced under president Jacques Chirac and was doubled in the 2025 budget so that it now adds €7.40 to an economy or short-haul flight.
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:
What changes for plane tickets in France with new 'eco tax' rates
The increase was confirmed in January and has been charged on tickets for flights leaving France since March.
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In April, one month after the new tax rates came into effect, Ryanair
announced four new routes
from France - going from La Rochelle in south-west France to London Stanstead, Dublin, Cork and Brussels.
Ryanair has also
added extra routes from Toulouse
airport to its summer 2025 schedule.
The initial proposal was for France to treble its flight tax, upon which O'Leary said that Ryanair would halve its schedule from France.
He later clarified to AFP in March that the company would not be pulling out of half of France's regional airports.
"No, no, no. We will still fly to France, but simply with lower capacity," he told reporters.
Ryanair currently flies from 25 airports in France, mostly smaller regional airports. In 2024 the company pulled out of Bordeaux airport in a separate disagreement over airport fees.
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:
Interview: 'Bordeaux airport will recover from loss of Ryanair within two years'✎
Ryanair on Wednesday urged the French government to abolish the "harmful" air tax in order to make French aviation more competitive.
France remains the world's most-visited tourist destination and is on course to break its own records for visitor numbers in 2025.
Ryanair said its decision follows "the French government's failure to cancel an excessive increase in air tax, which was raised by 180 percent in March 2025".
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"At a time when France should be focusing on recovery and growth, Ryanair has no choice but to reduce its capacity for winter 2025 by 13 percent due to the French government's failure to act against this harmful air tax," said Jason McGuinness, Ryanair's chief commercial officer.
The eco tax rose in March from €7.40 euros per passenger for domestic and European flights from €2.63 previously, although there are higher rates for first class, long-haul and private jet flights. In most cases the tax is added directly on to the cost of the passenger's ticket.
Ryanair said its decision will mean the loss of 25 routes and 750,000 seats in France this winter.
The airline said it would redirect capacity and investment to more competitive European markets such as Sweden, Hungary and Italy if the French government does not change course.
In contrast, if the government decides to drop the tax, Ryanair said it would respond with an investment of €2.5 billion, 25 new aircraft, a doubling of traffic to over 30 million passengers per year, and the creation of 750 additional jobs in French regions.
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