The French Transport Minister, Clément Beaune, announced on Monday that the country plans to increase the tax on airfares in the 2024 budget. The exact amount of the increase was not disclosed. Beaune also suggested that there might be an increase in tax on private jets as well.
The move is also aimed at encouraging citizens and tourists to choose domestic train travel over air travel and promote more sustainable mobility. Beaune explained that the aim is to finance investments in the railways, as many people are surprised to find that plane tickets are often cheaper than train tickets.
The debates on the 2024 budget will commence in September when the French parliament reconvenes. France has been imposing a tax surcharge on plane tickets since 2005, called the Chirac tax.
In 2020, this tax was raised to 3 Euro for economy-class tickets and 18 Euro for business or first-class tickets. Beaune also mentioned that an EU-wide measure to increase taxes on airline fuel is being discussed, but member states need to reach a unanimous decision.
Greenpeace research has revealed that flights are frequently cheaper than train journeys on the same route in Europe, discouraging people from choosing the more environmentally friendly option.
However, trains were cheaper than flights on 23 of the 112 international and domestic routes analysed.
In 2021, France prohibited domestic flights where the journey could be completed by train in two-and-a-half hours or less. The measure was part of a wider plan to reduce carbon emissions across all sectors.
The desire to travel may even strengthen next year, according to travel tech firm Amadeus, whose recent survey showed that 47% of respondents said international travel was a high-priority discretionary spending category for 2023 and 2024, compared with 42% who ranked it as such the previous year. Amadeus sampled travellers from Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Singapore.
