France bans short-haul flights on domestic routes to curb emissions
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The French government has now effectively banned short-haul flights on its domestic routes where travel time by train is no longer than two-and-a-half hours, Le Monde reported. The ban came into effect by a government decree.
With nations looking to curb their carbon emissions, electrified transport is being given a push. Plans to impose a ban on sales of internal combustion engines are afoot in many nations with electric vehicles being provided government subsidies to improve adoption rates.
Long-haul air transport is a puzzle that electric transportation hasn't cracked yet. Air transport accounts for 2.4 percent of global carbon emissions. This might seem small in absolute terms, but an hour of air travel emits 100 times more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when compared to travel by bus or train.
France's ban on short-haul flights
The country's plan to ban short-haul flights has been in the works for over three years. In 2021, the ban was made part of a climate law. However, the government had already ensured that its flag carrier, AIR FRANCE, does not oppose the plan by seeking its compliance in return for a financial aid package given during the coronavirus pandemic.
The move essentially means that travelers can no longer hop on flights between Paris and the cities of Nantes, Lyon, and Bordeaux where train journeys are shorter than two and a half hours.
Prior to putting this decree into effect, the 2021 law also made provisions to ensure that train services on these routes were frequent and timely, while also being able to absorb the influx of passengers who would have otherwise traveled by air.
The law also required that train services be available at times convenient for a passenger to make outbound and return journeys on the same day, even after spending eight hours at their destination, the report added.
Connecting flights remain unaffected by the new law that came into force on Tuesday. Critics have also pointed out that the imposed cut-off for the flight ban leaves out the port city of Marseille, for which travel time from Paris is just shy of three hours.
Having clipped the wings of commercial fliers, lawmakers in France and now also looking at ways to reduce emissions from private jets. While some members of the Parliament have called for a blanket ban on small private flights, the government is considering imposing a higher climate charge on private fliers from next year.
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