France’s Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that they will introduce an eco-tax on airlines flying out of France. The tax will be applied to all companies taking off from a French airport, except for flights to Corsica, French overseas departments and territories, and connecting flights.
The tax will vary depending on the length of the flight, its destination and on the class (economy or business). For flights within the European Union, the cost of a ticket will be in the range of 1.50 euros for economy class, 9 euros for business class and 18 euros for flights for business class outside the European Union. The estimated revenue from this levy after 2020 is about 180 million euros.
Borne said the money raised by the tax will be invested in in less-polluting transport, such as rail.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to tighten environmental regulations. He decided to impose the air tax on the plane after he was forced to drop the idea of raising the diesel fuel levy due to the violent protests of the yellow vests in the country.
Air France said the new tax would significantly hurt its competitiveness and represent an additional cost of over €60 million per year.
