BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Airline Swiss has confirmed its earlier announcement to stop operating out of Basel airport, effective May 2015. The news says less about Swiss, which has been competing at an airport where easyJet is easily the dominant airline, than it does about the airport’s ping-pong ball situation. The airport sits on French soil and has been under pressure from French tax authorities, who want to significantly raise airport taxes.

“The region has evolved into a low-cost-carrier market; and the already difficult conditions have been exacerbated by the continuing legal uncertainties over the adoption of French tax law and the additional fees that have been announced for the EuroAirport, which stands on French soil,” the airline said in an 8 December press release.

“‘For a premium carrier like Swiss it is simply impossible to operate profitably in this market environment,’ concedes Harry Hohmeister, CEO of Swiss International Air Lines.”