Chief Executive Officer, VINCI Concessions, VINCI SA
Nicolas Notebaert (Vinci Concessions) : Aérien, vers une nouvelle taxe sur les aéroports ?
Ce mardi 19 septembre, Nicolas Notebaert, directeur général de Vinci Concessions et président de Vinci Airports, est revenu sur ...
Transcript (9 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
Good morning. Our guest is Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and VINCI Airports, operating 72 airports worldwide. We'll discuss air traffic recovery and taxes. The government announced a tax on motorways covering all concessions, including airports, promising a legal battle. Are you ready? You noted air traffic is recovering strongly: 20% more than 2022, and in Europe and the Americas at 2019 levels. But French airports are still 16% below 2019. You mentioned many taxes on airports in France. So, if the government imposes this new tax, will you go to the Council of State? They said a motorway tax might be illegal, so they are taxing all concessions, making you a collateral victim. You've said it all.
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Nicolas Notebaert2:30
There was no desire to increase taxes on air traffic, which was heavily hit by COVID with no compensation in France, the only country without extension or compensation. Then they want to tax motorways, but after a Council of State opinion, they also tax airports. It's a strange policy. We will analyze it collectively with the Union of French Airports. When you increase taxes, either the passenger pays, at a time of high kerosene prices and hyperinflation, or the airports' investment margins are reduced. We are in a critical decarbonization investment phase, eliminating carbon sources and producing green energy. Taxing this capacity would decrease it. Also, we are investing in new security scanners. So taxing now would either reduce investment or increase passenger costs.
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Interviewer4:30
Nicolas Notebaert, when I hear that France is not a significant part, that traffic is recovering strongly everywhere except less in France, and that France has too many taxes, frankly, are you going to sell these concessions? Is it no longer an interesting business?
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Nicolas Notebaert4:41
No, we are partners of the territories. These airports are not concessions; we own 100%. We work with chambers of commerce representing businesses that use these airports to win contracts and develop employment. It will be a collective action of all airports and participants, including the Caisse des Dépôts, to react to this tax increase.
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Interviewer5:29
There is a second tax: Clément Beaune announced an increase in the tax on plane tickets for the 2024 budget. Same consequence: ticket prices rise. The objective of shifting to trains is not achieved because trains are full and expensive. It's a tax increase, not a modal shift policy. To shift, we would need more train capacity. So it's a fiscal levy on airports at the wrong time, limiting decarbonization investment and increasing passenger costs.
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Nicolas Notebaert6:32
Mobility is life, so don't tax it. Air mobility is mostly European, not domestic French. Taxing it has no substitute. Our traffic has recovered strongly in Portugal and Mexico, but in France it's still below 2019. Taxing unrecovered traffic reduces international travel capacity and hurts the economy.
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Interviewer8:06
Augustin de Romanet, the CEO of Groupe ADP, was quite happy about their traffic recovery. That means globally, citizens are not aware—air transport emits 3% of CO2, but everyone must make an effort. People who continue to travel, does that mean they are not aware that the planet is burning and we are heading for a wall?
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Nicolas Notebaert8:32
We are aware, and the answer is to decarbonize mobility, not reduce it. Mobility is essential. At VINCI, we reduced our emissions by 45% in five years through LED lighting, temperature management, and electric/hydrogen ground equipment. We must accelerate. To do so, we should not tax but rather support infrastructure for electric vehicles and sustainable aviation fuels. The European Parliament just voted to increase SAFs. They are expensive, so we should not impose surtaxes that delay their adoption. Now is the time to green transport, not tax it.
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Interviewer10:14
Thank you, Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and VINCI Airports, for being our guest.