France’s higher Taxe de solidarité sur les billets d’avion is pushing domestic business-jet operators to relocate aircraft, register them abroad, reduce flying or leave the market, while foreign competitors expand their presence. EBAA France has urged the government to cut the levy as it prepares the 2027 budget. The charge applies to each passenger departing a French airport and can reach €2,100 on long-haul business-jet flights.
The business-aviation rates introduced on 1 March 2025 range from €210 to €1,025 for turboprops and from €420 to €2,100 for turbojets, depending on destination. The French civil-aviation authority DGAC classifies charter, air-taxi and business flights as taxable commercial operations, regardless of the operator’s nationality.
Figures attributed to a French National Assembly finance report show foreign operators’ share of French business-aviation traffic rising from 86% at the start of 2025 to 91% by mid-2026. French operators’ movements fell by 11% to 20% year on year in successive quarters, while foreign competitors grew by about 3% to 4%.
The wider market remained broadly stable. DGAC data cited in the report recorded about 21,900 commercial business-aviation departures from France in the third quarter of 2025, including roughly 2,000 by French operators, down from 2,600. Foreign providers recorded nearly 10,000 more movements in the first three quarters of 2025 than in the same period of 2019.
The levy generated €42.6 million from business aviation in 2025, well below the approximately €150 million forecast. EBAA France chairman Charles Aguettant has highlighted the unequal impact: foreign operators can shift aircraft to other markets, whereas French companies rely more heavily on departures from France.