Cube | France bans short-haul flights: Will this move have repercussions?

France It has officially banned domestic flights when traveling by train for less than two and a half hours.

Many French ministers and the president Emmanuel Macron They are patting themselves on the back by claiming to be leading an ambitious climate change policy.

Macron tweeted: “I promised it. We’re the first to do it.” And a photograph is included that says “The Promise Kept” stamped in green ink.

But today we found 5 flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Lyon, and even though there are hourly trains on the same route, the journey is only 2 hours. How is it possible if it is banned?

Well, if we look closely, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule.

For example, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is located in Roissy, 20 kilometers from the capital, while Île de France is in the Greater Paris region. So, while the Paris-Bordeaux train takes less than two and a half hours, the Bordeaux-Charles de Gaulle airport journey is two and a half hours by train, so domestic flights are not restricted.

Another exception: if there are not enough trains on the routes, first thing in the morning or last thing, domestic flights will not be reduced. This is what happened on the train from Lyon to Paris Charles de Gaulle, although it only takes 2 hours.

Currently, the ban only affects 3 routes: Paris Orly to Bordeaux, Paris Orly to Lyon and Paris Orly to the western city of Nantes.

Climate activists and organizations have criticized the government, saying the ban is meaningless.

And they are right. The ban affects only 5,000 flights per year out of the nearly 200,000 national flights that take place in France each year, which is 2.5% of the banned flights.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the ban would only reduce 55,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, representing 2.6% of emissions per year from domestic flights in France.

Two of these routes, Paris Orly to Bordeaux and Paris Orly to Lyon, have already been closed by Air France in 2020 as a result of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. So, in reality, this new law has not landed any planes.

The ban will apply for at least three years, after which the French government will study its impact before taking further action.