The new tax – known as the taxe sur les infrastructures de transports longue distance (tax on the infrastructure of long-distance transport) – was passed by the previous government at the end of 2023, but a challenge was lodged with the Conseil Constitutionnel.

However on Thursday the Conseil issued its ruling, and gave approval for the new tax to be put into effect.

It is a corporate tax, levied on airport management firms and the private companies which operate the France’s autoroute (motorway) network.

The tax will be levied on any company in those sectors which has sales of at least €120 million and a break-even point of 10 percent – it is estimated that it will apply to the operators of France’s larger airports such as Paris (Orly and Charles De Gaulle), Nice, Marseille and Lyon plus the larger companies that operate autoroutes such as Vinci and Eiffage.

The money raised from the tax is intended to help fund France’s ‘ecological transition’ including the move to greener transport methods such as taking the train or swapping to an electric car.

It is estimated that the tax will raise around €150 million a year from airports, and €280 million a year from motorway operators.

The companies had argued that the tax will unfairly persecute larger transport operators, while making French airports less competitive compared to their European neighbours.

Airports say the tax may result in an increase in ticket prices for travellers, who already pay a tax surcharge of €3 per economy class ticket and €18 per business or first-class ticket.

It will be harder for autoroute companies to increase toll prices to compensate, since the percentage that tolls can rise by each year is capped by the government. 

Since 2023, a small number of domestic flights in France have been banned if it is possible to travel between the two destinations by train in less than two-and-a-half hours. This has seen routes between Paris and Bordeaux, Lyon and Nantes axed. 

The approval from the Conseil Constitutionnel removes the last legal obstacle to the new tax, but it is not clear at this stage when it will go into effect.