Issued on: 09/02/2025 – 16:06

2 min

The electric vehicle (EV) market declined by 6 percent overall in January compared to the previous year, but Tesla has been particularly hard hit.

Sales of the company’s EVs dropped by 63 percent in France, 44 percent in Sweden, 38 percent in Norway, 42 percent in the Netherlands and 12 percent in the UK.

One explanation for the decline is Tesla’s failure to launch a new mainstream model since the Model Y in 2021. Meanwhile, its European and Chinese rivals have brought out a range of more affordable products, better adapted to local preferences.

France has also decreased subsidies for EV purchases, making Tesla’s premium models far less affordable.

Beijing files WTO complaint over EU’s new taxes on Chinese EVs

Polarising politics 

The drop in Tesla sales has also coincided with its CEO Elon Musk‘s increasingly polarising political positions. His calls to support far-right parties in Europe have multiplied under new American president Donald Trump’s administration. 

The billionaire has used his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to voice support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) ahead of the country’s February elections, and to amplify far-right commentators.

In a recent video address to an AfD campaign rally, two days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, that Germans should not feel guilt over the sins of their great-grandparents.

Macron, Starmer join forces to tackle Musk ‘interference’ in European affairs

At Trump’s inauguration ceremony last month, Musk made a gesture that was widely interpreted as a Nazi salute. Musk responded to the accusations on X, posting: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

Last week, French Prime Minister François Bayrou said that Musk’s vast fortune was enabling him to “threaten democracy”, adding “money should not give the right to rule consciences”. 

European politicians have pushed back against Musk’s recent comments, while several European media outlets have closed their X accounts, citing the spread of disinformation. Musk has dismissed criticism against him as an affront to democracy and free speech.

Elon Musk addresses German far-right rally by video link

Tesla owners’ dilemma

Musk’s comments have pushed Tesla owners in France and other European countries to distance themselves from the company’s CEO, with some buying bumper stickers with slogans such as: “I bought this car before we knew Elon was crazy.”

Several polls have shown consumers have mixed views of Musk. A January survey conducted by EV review website Electrifying.com showed that 59 percent of British owners of EVs, and those intending to buy such a vehicle, said Musk’s influence would deter them from buying a Tesla.

In the Netherlands, Tesla’s biggest market in the European Union, a third of Tesla owners said they were considering getting rid of their vehicle because of Musk’s opinions, according to a poll by Dutch public broadcaster EenVandaag.

Despite the recent slump in sales, Tesla shares have more than doubled over the past year. 

This year, there will be some big travel changes for passengers – including perhaps the introduction of the EES biometric passport checks.

Some flight routes have been axed this year, including several routes to south-west France as Ryanair pulled out of Bordeaux airport, but there are also several new flight routes that will help people get to France.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the new flights from France starting up in 2025.

British Airways

A new flight will run between London Stansted and Bergerac Dordogne Périgord airport, which is 125km from Bordeaux (about an hour and a half driving distance from the city).

The service will begin on June 28th, 2025 and it will run once a week, on Saturdays. Tickets are already available for purchase on the British Airways website, as well as via the Bergerac airport site.

Volotea

The flight schedule and start date is still unclear, but according to Air Journal France, the Spanish low-cost airline will begin running 13 new flights weekly from Paris-Orly airport from April 2025.

They are expected to offer flights from Orly to the Italian cities of Ancona, Olbia, Alghero, Turin and Verona.

Lot

Paris-Orly to Warsaw (starting April 2025) – This daily flight will begin running in 2025, but the start-date is still not clear.

Air France

Paris to Denver & Phoenix, USA (expanded) – This flight route is not entirely new, but starting during the winter of 2024/25, Air France will extend flights to Denver and Phoenix, with three flights a week from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG). Previously, the Denver service had only been available in the summer, and Phoenix was only added in the summer of 2024. 

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Paris to Orlando, USA (starting May 21, 2025) – Four direct flights per week, with Orlando serving as Air France’s 18th US destination.

Paris to Manila, Philippines (winter 2024/2025) – Three flights a week start on December 7th and will continue into 2025.

Paris to Malé, Maldives (December 20 to January 5) – Up to two flights a week to Malé during the Christmas holiday period.

Transavia general

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Paris-Orly to Amsterdam, Netherlands (starting April 2025) – This new flight schedule is still yet to be confirmed, but it could start as early as April 2025, according to French daily Les Echos.

Paris-Orly to Belgrade, Serbia (starting April 10, 2025) – The budget airline will run two flights a week to Serbia, with one-way prices stating at €65.

Nantes to Essaouira, Morocco (starting July 11, 2025) – One flight a week (on Fridays), with one-way prices starting at €48.

Lyon to Paphos, Cyprus (starting July 12, 2025) – One flight a week, running on Saturdays, with one-way prices starting at €39.

Lyon to Bastia, Corsica (starting on April 19th, 2025) – One flight a week, running on Saturdays, with one-way prices starting at €34 .

Marseille to Cairo, Egypt (starting April 4, 2025) – One flight a week, running on Saturdays, starting at €75 for a one-way ticket.

Transavia new summer flights

Paris-Orly to Chisinau, Moldova (starting July 7, 2025) – Two flights per week, Mondays and Fridays, one-way tickets starting at €65.

Paris-Orly to Sofia, Bulgaria (starting April 10, 2025) – Two flights per week, Thursdays and Sundays, with one-way tickets starting at €45.

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Bordeaux to Faro, Portugal (starting July 7, 2025) – Two flights per week, Mondays and Fridays, with one-way tickets starting at €30. 

Strasbourg to Istanbul, Turkey (Starting April 8, 2025) – One flight per week on Mondays, starting at €54 for a one-way ticket.

Montpellier to Brussels, Belgium (Starting April 10, 2025) – Two flights per week on Thursdays and Sundays, starting at €36 for one-way tickets.

Marseille to Athens (Starting April 3, 2025) – Two flights per week, on Thursdays and Sundays, starting at €60 for one-way tickets.

Lyon to Ajaccio, Corsica (Starting on April 19, 2025) – One flight per week on Saturdays, with one-way tickets starting at €34.

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Bastia, Corsica to Biarritz (Starting July 12, 2025) – One flight per week on Saturdays, starting at €34 one-way.

EasyJet

Lyon to Newcastle, UK (starting January 4, 2025) – One flight a week on Saturdays

Strasbourg to Palma, Spain (starting June 4, 2025) – Two flights per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, one-way tickets starting around €35.

Rennes to Manchester, UK (starting June 25, 2025) – Two flights a week, Wednesdays and Sundays.

Paris-Orly to Skopje (North Macedonia) and Sofia (Bulgaria) – These new routes do not have their flight schedules confirmed yet, but they may start as early as April 2025, according to French daily Les Echos.

Paris-Orly to Southampton (England) – Business Traveller confirmed that EasyJet will launch “twice-weekly flights for the summer season”. These are expected to begin on March 31st, 2025, and the flights will run on Mondays and Fridays. 

Nantes to Menorca (Spain) – Three flights (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) per week from April 1st

Nantes to Rhodes (Greece) – Two flights per week (Wednesday and Saturday) from June 25th

Lyon to Bari (Italy) – Three flights a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) starting on May 23rd

Lyon to Brindisi (Italy) – Two flights per week (Thursday and Sunday) starting on June 5th

Lyon to Essaouira (Morocco) – Two flights per week (Wednesday and Saturday) starting on June 4th

Lyon to Zadar (Croatia) – Two flights per week (Monday and Friday) starting on June 23rd

Lyon to Reykjavik (Iceland) – Two flights per week (Tuesday and Sunday) starting on June 24th

Easyjet is also running five new routes from Bordeaux-Merignac; Birmingham, Corfu, Faro, Dubrovnik and Budapest – full details here. It will also take over the Bordeaux-Edinburgh route, previously operated by Ryanair, offering a twice weekly connection, in the summer only.

Brest to London-Gatwick – The new line will run from June 25th. There will be two direct flights per week – on Wednesdays and Sundays.

French Bee

Paris-Orly to Montreal, Canada (starting April 30, 2025) – The new route by the newcomer low-cost carrier will run four times a week, and during the summer high-season it will run five times a week.

Wizz Air

Paris-Orly to London Gatwick (April 2025) – This new flight schedule is still yet to be confirmed, but it could start as early as April 2025.

Vueling

Paris-Orly to Salerno, Italy (April 2025) – This new flight schedule is still yet to be confirmed, but it could start as early as April 2025.

Odyssey airlines – New summer routes

Nîmes to Ajaccio, Corsica (May 31st to September 28th) – One flight per week, every Saturday.

Nîmes to Barcelona, Spain (May 29th to September 28th) – Two flights per week, running on Thursdays and Sundays.

Nîmes to Bastia, Corsica (June 5th to September 26th) – One flight per week, every Wednesday.

Nîmes to Milan, Italy (May 30th to September 29th) – Two flights per week, running Mondays and Fridays, with a 30-minute stopover in Nice.

Nîmes to Verona, Italy (May 30th to September 29th) – Two flights per week, running on Mondays and Fridays.

Nîmes to Nice, France (May 30th to September 29th) – Two flights per week, running on Mondays and Fridays.

Tours to Ajaccio, Corsica (June 1st to September 28th) – One flight per week, every Saturday.

Tours to Bastia, Corsica (June 5th to September 25th) – One flight per week, every Wednesday.

Nice Bergame to Milan (May 30th to September 29th) – Two flights per week, on Mondays and Fridays.

Malaysian Airlines

Paris CDG to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Starting on March 23, 2025) – The Malaysian carrier will initially launch four weekly flights from March 23rd, and then it will switch to daily flights from March 30th.

Etihad Airlines

Paris CDG to Abu Dhabi, UAE (Starting on January 15, 2025) – Two daily flights, morning and evening.

Other travel changes to note

The EU is set to introduce its new biometric passport checks – known as Entry & Exit System (EES) in 2025, but this has been repeatedly delayed. Once EES is finally introduced, ETIAS – a €7 visa waiver for non-EU visitors – is expected to follow six months later. Full details of how it all works here.

 Air France also plans to shift nearly all its domestic and international flights from Paris Orly to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport by 2026. This is a phased process which began in November 2023 and will continue over the next two years with gradually fewer and fewer flights from Orly.

And finally – the low-cost airline easyJet also announced that it would be closing its base at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in south-west France by March 2025. However, this ‘hub closure’ will primarily impact the 125 easyJet staff at the airport, rather than customers, who the airline say will see no changes to flights.

Despite the fact that winter is not yet over, France’s National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique, or RNSA) announced on Sunday that much of the country was on ‘red’ level for high pollen counts.

This is the highest pollen warning on a scale of one to four (white: no warning; green: low warning; yellow: medium warning; red high warning).

The départements at the ‘red’ level are primarily located in southern and south-western France, while the rest of the country was placed on the yellow warning.

Overall, 30 départements were listed on the red warning on Sunday, representing a significant increase from Thursday (February 13th) when there were just 10 red départements on the alert.

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People with pollen-related allergies have been warned to take extra care to rinse off after being exposed to pollen, as well as to air out living spaces for at least 10 minutes a day and limit outdoor sport activities.

Which types of plants?

According to the RNSA, the high pollen counts are due to early spring weather. 

“The risk of allergies are elevated from the south-west to south-east due to an increased presence of cupressaceae pollens (ex. cypress, juniper, etc)”, RNSA wrote.

The risk level was also at ‘medium’ for ash (frêne), alder (aulne) and hazel (noisetier) pollens.

“Hazelnuts and alders (in the Betulaceae family) are also in full bloom throughout the country, with an ‘medium’ risk level for allergy,” the group warned. This is expected to rise to a high level in the coming days, due to expected sunny, mild and windy weather in the coming week.

How can I check pollen levels for my area?

You can go onto the Pollens.fr website and consult the interactive map. You can also enter your département and see the pollen levels based on different types of plants and flowers.

Two days after Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States to meet his “friend” Donald Trump, the deportation of illegal Indian migrants began to intensify. Two American military aircraft carrying 228 men, women, minors and even infants landed in Amritsar, Punjab, on Saturday, February 15, and Sunday, February 16. A first repatriation had taken place on February 5, outraging Indian public opinion: the passengers were handcuffed and shackled. The latest arrivals reported similar traveling conditions.

It’s all the more embarrassing for Modi that the majority of migrants entering the US illegally via Canada or South America come from Gujarat, his political stronghold, which he likes to tout as an economic model. To avoid focusing the spotlight on the state, the government decided to land the planes in Punjab, a state run by the Congress, the main opposition party, which also provides, along with Haryana, many candidates for departure. The head of government of this northern Indian state, Bhagwant Mann, criticized this as an attempt to “defame” Punjab and Punjabis.

These expulsions bring to light two realities that the Indian prime minister strives to conceal. First, that of an economy unable to offer enough work and prospects to its young people – 10 million new entrants to the job market every year – who flee first and foremost to the US, in search of a better life. India represents the third largest contingency of illegal migrants in the US, with an estimated 725,000 people. Second, these expulsions underline the fact that Trump will not grant his ally any special status, either in terms of immigration or trade.

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