France Prohibits Short-Distance Flying Under Certain Conditions

France's president Emanuel Macron put into effect a prohibition on domestic flights under 90 minutes for trips that can be made by rail in under 2.5 hours.

 

France's Minister of Transportation Clement Beaune made the announcement. In an official statement, Beaune called this a vital step and a significant mark in the program of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

“As we fight relentlessly to decarbonize our lifestyles, how can we justify the use of the plane between the big cities which benefit from regular, fast and efficient connections by train,” the Minister continued.

Only three flights, from Paris-Orly to Bordeaux, Nantes, and Lyon, have been cancelled. There will be no disruption to connecting flights.

The EU stipulated that there must be a high-speed rail option to the aviation route in issue that would allow for transit between the two cities to take less than two and a half hours for the ban to be implemented. Trains also need to operate early enough and late enough to give visitors a full day to explore.

The French government has come under fire for President Emmanuel Macron's decision to water down recommendations from his own sustainability group. Some have argued that the prohibition does nothing to address climate change, while others highlighted that high-speed rail was already drawing customers away from aircraft.

“No one will be fooled by this measure: passengers are naturally turning away from taking flights on these routes,” commented Guillaume Schmid, former VP of Air France’s pilots’ union.

According to Jo Dardenne, aviation director of cleaner transport advocacy organization Transport & Environment, the recent French flight embargo is a symbolic step, but will actually have very little effect on cutting emissions, as according to T&E's estimations, the three routes impacted by the restriction account for barely 3% of France's domestic flight emissions.

 

Source: cnn.com