French lawmakers have voted to suspend domestic airline flights that can be made by direct train in less than two and a half hours, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.
After a heated debate amongst lawmakers, the ban, a watered-down version;of a key recommendation from President Emmanuel Macron’s citizens’ climate convention,;was adopted.
It will mean the end of short internal flights from Orly airport, south of Paris, to Nantes and Bordeaux;among others. However, connecting flights will not be affected.
Macron’s climate convention had originally recommended the scrapping of all flights between French destinations,;where an alternative direct train journey of less than four hours existed.
This was reduced to two and a half hours after strong objections from certain regions and Air France-KLM. The airline, like other airlines, has been badly hit by local and international Covid-19 restrictions on travel.
A year ago,;the French government agreed a €7bn loan for AF-KLM on the condition that certain internal flights were;dropped. This ban will also stop other low-cost airlines from operating the banned domestic routes.
France’s transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, told MPs, “We have chosen two and a half hours because four hours risks isolating landlocked territories including the greater Massif Central, which would be iniquitous.”
France’s new law will be watched;closely by other countries. Austria’s coalition conservative-green government introduced;a €30 tax on airline tickets, for flights of less than 217 miles (350km) in June 2020. It also issued;a ban on domestic flights that;could be;travelled;in less than three hours by train.
Opposition to the law
The measure, part of a climate and resilience bill, was;passed despite cross-party opposition. Socialist MP, Joël Aviragnet said the measure would have a “disproportionate human cost” and warned of job losses in the airline sector.
Other MPs also complained that watering down the climate convention’s recommendation had made the measure meaningless.
Mathilde Panot, of the La France Insoumise, said the measure had been “emptied” while her colleague, Danièle Obono said retaining the four-hour threshold would have made;it possible to halt routes that “emit the most greenhouse gases”.
The French consumer association, UFC-Que Choisir also called on MPs to retain the four-hour recommendation to give the new law “some substance”. The group further entreated lawmakers to put in place safeguards that ensure SNCF [French national rail] will not seize the opportunity to artificially inflate its prices or degrade the quality of rail service.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing environmental and social crises. It must lead us to rethink our health policies in order to face the challenge of future health crises of infectious origin.”
UFC-Que Choisir added that banning domestic flights if a direct train alternative of fewer than four hours existed would have a “real impact” on reducing CO2 emissions.
“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.
“Our study shows that … the government’s choice actually aims to empty the measure of its substance.” carbon emissions
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