In an official letter addressed to the new overseas minister, Philippe Vigier, dated August 21, the deputy of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, Frantz Gumbs, alerts the politician so that concrete measures are taken. to curb the air transport situation.
The deputy gets to the heart of the matter from the start of his letter: “Since December 13, 2022 and for an indefinite period, the French company Air Caraïbes no longer operates between its base at Paris-Orly and Sint airport. -Maarten – Princess Juliana, decision “taken for strictly economic reasons”. This state of affairs has therefore created a monopoly position for the airline Air France on the transatlantic. In addition to this observation, inflation on the price of plane tickets: "In June 2023, the price index for air passenger transport indicates that towards Overseas France, the price increase is 12,3% specifying nevertheless that the situation is contrasted with the most marked increases towards the West Indies against the decreases for Polynesia and Mayotte. In a context of repeated strikes within the airlines at the heart of the tourist season for the two islands of his constituency, the deputy Frantz Gumbs specifies: "The fall of Air Antilles [in liquidation with continuation of activity for two months ] and the strike movement at Air Caraïbes drastically increased ticket prices by reducing the number of players. However, prices are already high, following an agreement on “price increases, reduction in supply and its distribution” between several companies noted in March by the Competition Authority”. In the end, it is the families of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin who are harmed, particularly those with expatriate students or suffering people requiring medical evacuation to Guadeloupe or mainland France. With a tourist season already impacted by the context of air transport, the deputy fears an “inevitable deterioration of the territorial continuity between our territories and France”. Another point that aggravates the situation, the announcement of the Minister delegate in charge of transport on "the financing of the ecological transition" which intends to increase the tax on plane tickets to finance the rail sector and will cause new price inflation: “Absolutely exorbitant prices are already charged, in particular by Air France on the transatlantic and by Air Caraïbes on the regional, and do not fail to create great anxiety for families, a few days before the start of the school year, and for the communities economic which have no visibility a few weeks before a new tourist season". Frantz Gumbs calls on Philippe Vigier to “take the necessary urgent and protective measures”. _VX
https://faxinfo.fr/en/le-depute-frantz-gumbs-denonce-le-prix-eleve-des-billets-davion/
