25 flight routes have been disrupted
There’s bad news for anyone planning a low-cost getaway to mainland Europe later this year, as Irish flight provider Ryanair have announced the decision to axe direct flights to three French airports.
They’ve cut back on all services to Brive, Bergerac and Strasbourg.
Some of France’s most popular tourist destinations have also seen flights heavily reduced.
Flights to Marseille in the French Riviera have been cut by 9%, while those to Paris-Beauvais (located just outside of the French capital) will see a reduction of 8%.
Ryanair travel to the French city of Toulouse — home to 20 popular museums— will be cut by 4%.
Overall, this will lead to the loss of 25 flight routes and 750,000 seats on Ryanair planes.
The provider say they’ve had to make cuts in response to an increase in taxes.
In March, the French government moved to increase the ‘Airline Ticket Solidarity tax.’
The surcharge is applied to all airline tickets on flights departing from French territory, and is aimed at funding environmental projects and supporting climate initiatives.
For intra-Europe flights, the tax has increased from €2.63 to €7.40 per passenger.
Ryanair released a statement on the impact of tax as they announced the service changes.
It reads: “This completely avoidable loss will have a severe impact on regional connectivity, tourism and local employment.
“Unless the government changes course and abolishes this unfair air tax, Ryanair’s capacity and investment in France will inevitably be redirected to more competitive European markets such as Sweden, Hungary, or parts of Italy.”
The ultimate result for Irish users is that they may have to focus their winter getaways around cheaper locations like Bucharest in Romania — dubbed the ‘Paris of the East’ — rather than traditional locations in France.
