French politician unveils radical plans to ‘cease airline tickets beneath £10’

A French politician is gearing as much as current plans to control low-cost airline ticket costs throughout the European Union.

The official stated extraordinarily low cost flights throughout the European continent are “no longer possible” when the planet is going through a climate crisis.

Clément Beaune, the French transport minister, argued in favour of scrapping €10 (£8.50) aircraft tickets and establishing minimal airfare costs throughout the bloc.

This transfer, he defined, can be within the long-term curiosity of the planet, as a approach to scale back air journey and carbon emissions.

In an interview with French weekly magazine L’Obs, Mr Beaune stated: “Plane tickets at €10, at a time of ecological transition, this is no longer possible. This does not reflect the price for the planet.”

He additionally stated: “I openly call for taxing polluting activities to invest in the ecological transition.”

This is not the primary time Mr Beaune steered ramping up taxes on aircraft tickets to finance investments in greener technique of transport comparable to trains.

Speaking in August with radio station RMC, the politician stated: “It allows us to finance investments in the train.

“Many folks inform us that they’re shocked that, typically, the aircraft prices lower than the prepare. We want extra investments within the railway.”

The increased taxes on airline tickets – as well as on companies managing France’s highways – will likely be reflected in the 2024 budget to be unveiled by Emmanuel Macron’s Government later this month.

Another measure to cut France’s carbon footprint when it comes to air travel came into force in May, when the French Government partially banned short-haul domestic flights for trips to destinations that could be reached in less than two and a half hours by train.

The measure, however, was criticised for not being impactful enough, as it only affected three main flight routes connecting Paris-Orly Airport with Bordeaux, Lyon and Nantes.

The politician’s war on extremely cheap European flights may not cause too much upset among at least one low-cost airline company.

Last summer, Ryanair chief govt Michael O’Leary stated his prospects have been unlikely to see being provided €10 tickets within the foreseeable future as a result of rise in gas prices prompted by the battle in Ukraine.

He informed the BBC in 2022: “There’s little doubt that on the decrease finish of {the marketplace}, our actually low cost promotional fares – the one euro fares, the €0.99 fares, even the €9.99 fares – I believe you’ll not see these fares for the following variety of years.”