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France's Private Jet Tax Is Pushing Charter Flights Onto Foreign Jets
Since 1 March 2025, France has charged private jet passengers a much higher rate of its air passenger tax. Fresh figures show the toll on French operators. Charter flights flown on French-registered jets have fallen by between 11% and 20% in each quarter since October 2025, according to a report by the French National Assembly's finance committee (report n° 3189), as covered by Aviation International News on 1 October 2026.
If you charter a jet to, from or within France, this matters for two reasons. The tax is a fixed per-passenger cost that should be built into your quote. And the aircraft you fly on is increasingly likely to be registered outside France, as operators shift their fleets to stay competitive.
What Is France's Private Jet Tax, and How Much Does It Cost?
The tax is officially the "tarif de solidarité" (solidarity rate) of France's air passenger tax, the TTAP, but is commonly known as the TSBA. It is a per-passenger charge added to the price of a flight ticket. The revenue goes first to AFITF, France's transport infrastructure funding agency, up to a cap of €270 million, with any surplus going to the general state budget, according to the French Ministry for Ecological Transition's own notice to operators.
On 1 March 2025, under article 30 of France's 2025 budget law, a separate and much higher rate was introduced for passengers on commercial business aviation flights. The current rates are confirmed in the same ministry notice, reissued in January 2026. The rate depends on which zone your final destination country falls into, measured from France to the main airport of that country's capital, not on the exact length of your flight.
These rates apply to non-scheduled flights on aircraft with 19 seats or fewer, the category that covers almost all private jet charters.
Charter Flights on French-Registered Jets Have Fallen Sharply
The parliamentary report, filed on 23 September 2026 by Philippe Juvin, the finance committee's general rapporteur, found that movements by French-registered business jets fell by between 11% and 20% in each quarter since October 2025, AIN reports.
Over the same period, flights into French airports by foreign-registered aircraft increased by 3% to 4%. AIN also reports that foreign-registered aircraft's share of the French charter market rose from 86% in early 2025 to 91% by mid-2026. In plain terms, demand for private flying has not disappeared. It has shifted away from French-registered jets.
Paris Le Bourget shows what is at stake. The airport alone represents more than 3,500 direct jobs and 10,000 induced jobs in the wider economy, according to EBAA France, the French arm of Europe's business aviation association.
Why Operators Are Registering Their Jets Outside France
The tax applies to every commercial operator flying passengers out of a French airport, not only French ones. The French Ministry for Ecological Transition's own notice to operators is explicit that the tax is due from any public air transport company, whatever its nationality or legal status.
EBAA France, the industry's own trade body, objects to the level of the rate itself, and also argues that it is collected unevenly. The tax is self-declared, meaning operators calculate and remit it themselves rather than having it withheld automatically.
Charles Aguettant, president of EBAA France, told the French trade publication TourMag on 15 April 2026 that French-registered operators have declared the tax, while foreign-registered operators sometimes have not, out of unfamiliarity with the French rule. In a separate statement on 4 November 2025, EBAA France said many foreign operators are unaware of the tax. It added that French authorities are not doing enough to make them pay, Aviation International News reported.
Aguettant has called the situation for the sector a catastrophe. He says all French operators are looking at registering aircraft under a foreign flag, and some have gone further than looking, TourMag reports. Some French operators have already moved their fleets to other EU countries such as Malta, according to AIN.
The tax is also raising far less than planned. The business aviation rate was expected to bring in around €150 million, but EBAA France estimates it has raised only about €30 million, Aguettant told TourMag.
The sector is not small. EBAA France puts the economic output of business aviation in France at €32.1 billion, supporting more than 101,500 direct and indirect jobs nationwide, and says the tax now threatens that base.
What Does This Mean for Your Next Flight?
If you are chartering a jet departing from a French airport, the tax is legally due on each passenger, whoever operates the flight, apart from a few narrow exemptions. It is calculated per passenger, based on the zone of your destination country and whether you are flying on a jet or a turboprop. Nothing changes immediately about how that charge is applied.
What is changing gradually is which aircraft are available. As more operators register their jets outside France to stay competitive, your charter broker may increasingly propose aircraft with a foreign registration for flights departing France. Flying with an operator certified in another EU member state is entirely legal, as it must meet the same EASA (the EU's aviation safety regulator) standards as a French one. The French tax is still due on that flight.
The tax applies only to passengers boarding at a French airport, with a few exceptions such as flights from Basel-Mulhouse operated under Swiss traffic rights. It does not add to the cost of flights that merely overfly French airspace, or that depart from and land in other countries. When arranging a jet charter from Paris or another French hub, ask your broker to itemise the tax clearly in your quote, alongside any airport VIP transfer or onward helicopter transfer you might need.
Sources
- Aviation International News: Parliamentary Report Says French Flight Tax Hits Charter Operators Hard (1 October 2026)
- Aviation International News: French Business Aviation Group Demands Flight Tax Reform (5 November 2025)
- Assemblée Nationale: Rapport d'information n° 3189 (23 September 2026)
- French Ministry for Ecological Transition: Official notice on the solidarity rate (tarif de solidarité), January 2026
- EBAA France: Official statement on the threat to French business aviation (4 November 2025)
- TourMag: Interview with Charles Aguettant, EBAA France (15 April 2026)
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
What is the TSBA, and why is it making headlines now?
The tax is officially the "tarif de solidarité" (solidarity rate) of France's air passenger tax, but it is commonly known as the TSBA. On 1 March 2025, the French government sharply increased the rate charged to private jet passengers. New figures reported on 1 October 2026 show the toll this has taken: charter flights on French-registered jets have fallen by between 11% and 20% each quarter since late 2025.
How much extra will I pay to charter a private jet from France?
For a destination within France, the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK or another country within 1,000 kilometres, the tax adds €420 per passenger on a business jet, or €210 on a turboprop. For a destination country between 1,000 and 5,500 kilometres away it rises to €1,015 per passenger on a jet, and for a destination country more than 5,500 kilometres away it reaches €2,100 per passenger on a jet. These charges are legally due on every passenger departing a French airport, apart from a few narrow exemptions such as connecting passengers.
Does this tax apply if I am only flying through French airspace, not departing from a French airport?
No. The tax is charged on passengers boarding a flight that departs from a French airport. If you are simply overflying France, or departing from and arriving in other countries, the French tax does not apply to that journey.
Why are private jet operators registering their aircraft outside France?
The tax applies to every commercial operator flying out of a French airport, not only French ones. But it is self-declared, and EBAA France, the industry's trade body, says French operators have been paying it while some foreign operators have not, partly from unfamiliarity with the rule. It argues that the high rate, combined with this uneven collection, is pushing French companies to consider registering their aircraft under a foreign flag. Registering abroad does not exempt a flight from the tax.
Is the French government expected to change this tax?
There is no confirmed date for any change. EBAA France has publicly asked the government to lower the rate and strengthen enforcement so that foreign-registered operators comply as consistently as French ones, but as of 1 October 2026 the rates introduced on 1 March 2025 remain in force. EBAA France says it will keep campaigning for changes in France's draft budget law for 2027.