France to tax flights from its airports, airline shares fall

France will introduce a tax on airlines flying from its airports to help support the environment, the transport minister said on Tuesday, in a move expected to raise around E180m from 2020. Shares in airlines across Europe fell on the news, with Air France down 5.2%, Ryanair down 4.8%, easyJet down 4% and Lufthansa down nearly 3% at 1255 GMT. However, activists said the new tax was unlikely to change consumer behavior at the proposed levels and was low compared with other countries. Brussels-based NGO Transport and Environment (T&E) estimates airline taxes raise about E1b per year in Germany and more than E3b in Britain. The new French tax will be 1.5 euros for flights within France or the European Union, 3 euros for economy flights out of the EU, 9 euros for intra-EU business class and up to 18 euros for business class tickets out of the EU. Transit flights will not be taxed. “We have decided to put in place an eco-tax on all flights from France,” Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne told a news conference, adding proceeds would be use to finance daily transport in France, notably local trains. The French government also said that from 2020 it expected to raise E140m from reducing tax benefits on diesel for trucks. “The government is finally targeting tax breaks for the most polluting industries such as trucking and airlines, but these modest measures will not significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Climate Action Network’s Lorelei Limousin.<br/>