Ban on Short-Distance Flights Replaceable by Rail
"Passengers Already Avoiding... Criticism of Overlegislation"
Short-distance trips that can be taken by train in France are expected to no longer allow the use of passenger planes.
On the 23rd (local time), CNN reported that France has enacted a law banning domestic short-haul flights that can be replaced by rail. Previously, the French Parliament passed a similar bill in 2021.
The specific content of the bill is that air routes where there is a train on the same route and the distance takes 150 minutes by rail must be abolished.
Regarding the enactment of the bill, Cl?ment Beaune, French Minister of Transport, issued a statement on the 22nd, calling it "an essential step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a symbol of strong efforts."
He added, "It cannot be justified to use airplanes instead of fast and efficient trains for travel between major cities while fighting to reduce carbon emissions."
After the bill took effect, three routes connecting Paris Orly Airport, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Lyon were suspended. However, connecting flights were reportedly excluded from the ban.
The French National Assembly passed the "Law on Fighting Climate Change and Strengthening Resilience" in 2021, which included a ban on domestic short-haul flights. The bill stated that "airplanes emit 77 times more carbon dioxide per passenger than trains," labeling them as the "main culprit of global warming."
In the future, routes in France with a flight distance of 2 hours and 30 minutes or less and accessible by train must be discontinued. The photo shows France's high-speed train TGV. Photo by Yonhap News
French President Emmanuel Macron proposed at the 2019 "Citizens' Climate Convention," which involved 150 citizens, that passenger flights within four hours should be abolished.
However, this proposal faced strong opposition from French airlines. The reduction to "within 2 hours and 30 minutes" during the legislative process appears to be a compromise considering industry backlash.
Some have raised doubts about the bill. Guillaume Schmid, former vice president of the Air France pilots' union, pointed out, "Passengers were already naturally avoiding short-haul flights." It is likely that private airlines had already reduced routes without the need for a law to abolish short-haul routes.
Climate activists also criticized that the routes abolished by this bill do not have a significant impact on France's carbon emissions. According to a survey by the French environmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E), the three routes affected by the bill account for only 0.3% of all flights in France.
Regarding this, Jo Dardenne, head of T&E, stated, "The ban on short-haul flights is a symbolic move, but it has almost no effect on actually reducing carbon emissions."
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