The French government is considering a new tax policy that would increase the contribution of the most profitable transport infrastructure operators, including airports. This potential change could raise costs for these operators and bring back discussions about fees charged to airlines. The measure is still under consideration and needs to be included in the 2027 budget to become official. The Ministry of Transport announced on Monday, September 28, its plan to revise the tax on the operation of long-distance transport infrastructure. Introduced in 2024, the current tax rate is fixed at 4.6%. The government is proposing a new system with different brackets, where the tax rate could rise to as high as 12.2%, depending on how profitable the operator is. This change is expected to generate an additional 800 million euros annually, increasing the total tax revenue from around 600 million euros to 1.4 billion euros. This amount includes both highways and airports. The new tax, called TEITLD, is not calculated directly on profits. Instead, it is based on a company’s profitability, and the tax applies to the portion of revenue from infrastructure operations that exceeds 120 million euros annually. To be affected, an operator must have an average profitability of more than 10% over its last seven fiscal years, excluding the two best and two worst years. This ensures that only the most profitable companies are subject to the higher tax rate. According to a government source cited by AFP, the reform would mainly affect large airport operators. The ADP Group, which manages major French airports, is among those potentially impacted, along with other major airport managers. Airports in Nice, Marseille-Provence, Lyon, and Toulouse could also be affected by the stricter TEITLD rules. However, each airport’s situation depends on its specific revenues and how its profitability is calculated legally. Simply being a major airport does not automatically mean it will pay more tax. The current tax burden is already significant. According to the Transport Regulation Authority (ART), the implementation of the TEITLD added nearly 140 million euros in costs for affected airports in 2024. Despite this, the authority notes that, overall, operators have maintained profitability levels similar to those before the pandemic, even as their costs have risen. The government says it wants to ensure that the tax is more closely aligned with the actual capacity and profitability of operators. The additional revenue will be used by the French Transport Infrastructure Financing Agency to fund a program called Ambition transports, aimed at modernizing and adapting existing transport networks.