PARIS – France has banned domestic short-haul flights on routes where train alternatives exist in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.
The law, widely hailed by environmentalists, came into force recently but two years after lawmakers had voted to end routes where the same trip could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours.
Clement Beaune, France’s transport minister, heralded the fresh law and said this is an essential step and a strong symbol in the policy of reducing 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,” he said in a statement though critics have described the latest measures as symbolic bans.
Under the law, only three routes have been discontinued i.e those linking Paris-Orly airport to the cities of Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon while connecting flights will be unaffected.
While some of the climate change activists are branding it as a welcome step, Laurent Donceel, interim head of industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E), told a news agency that banning these trips will only have ‘minimal effects’ on CO2 output, calling on authorities to instead support real and significant solutions to the issue.
France’s Citizens’ Convention on Climate, which was created by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 and included 150 members of the public, had proposed scrapping plane journeys where train journeys of under four hours existed but the cap was fixed at two and a half hours.
Nonetheless, French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir had reiterated lawmakers to retain the four-hour limit.
“On average, the plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger than the train on these routes, even though the train is cheaper and the time lost is limited to 40 minutes,” it said.
Meanwhile, Guillaume Schmid, former vice president of Air France’s pilots’ union also said no one will be fooled by this measure citing that passengers are naturally turning away from taking flights on these routes.
