The French Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, announced Monday, August 7, 2023, that in the 2024 budget, they are going to strengthen the tax on plane tickets which already exists.
The Minister Delegate for Transport Clement Beaune specified that it is not a tax “for fun”, but to “finance investments in the train”.
"There will be a tax on plane tickets that we will strengthen in the 2024 budget. Not for the pleasure of taxing, but to strengthen investment in the train", he justified during an interview on ' RMC', without however specifying the amount of the increase.
Earlier in July, the Minister of Transport , mentioned on Franceinfo “a few extra euros per ticket” , concerning this particular tax.
Greenpeace published a report last month highlights that a train journey across Europe costs on average twice as much as a flight. Out of 112 different European routes, they found that on 79 routes, the flight was found to be cheaper than the train.
"Many people tell us that they are shocked that the plane often costs less than the train. We need more investment in rail."
In a bid to cut carbon emissions, France has already banned domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives exist , where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours.
Clément Beaune also specified that a European tax on kerosene , currently under discussion, could be put in place within “a few months”.
But to set up such a tax, which is more "just and necessary from an environmental point of view", the Member States still have to agree, unanimously. They are struggling to agree on making green fuels cheaper and fossil fuels more expensive.
"It's progressing," he said, "but there's no point in having a tax on kerosene in France if you don't have it in Germany or Italy."
France's Citizens' Convention on Climate, which was created by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 and included 150 members of the public, had proposed scrapping plane journeys where train journeys of under four hours existed.
