France Bans Some Short-Haul Flights

Improve the News Foundation -

Facts

  • Coming two years after French lawmakers voted to end flight routes that could be conducted by train in under 2.5 hours, France officially banned short-haul air travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon, and Bordeaux on Tuesday.1
  • A successful ban, approved by the European Commission (EC) in December, could mean more flight routes will be added to the list. Though train rides such as Milan, Italy, to Paris currently take over seven hours, the EU's TEN-T high-speed rail project is expected to halve the trip with its new 36-mile-long Mont Cenis Base Tunnel under the Savoy Alps.2
  • The law, which doesn't include connecting flights, adds that train services on the same route must be frequent, timely, and well-connected enough to meet the needs of those who would otherwise travel by air and must accommodate the extra passengers.3
  • Some, however, believe restrictions should include routes that can be completed by train in four hours, with the advocacy group Transport & Environment estimating that the three routes so far included only represent 0.3% of the emissions produced by flights from mainland France.4
  • When the ban was first proposed in 2021, the Union of French Airports, alongside the European branch of the Airports Council International, contested the idea, which at the time, led the EC to decide against the plan.2

Sources: 1BBC News, 2Forbes, 3France 24, and 4CNN.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by The Conversation. While this is just a first step toward ending unnecessary carbon emissions, France should be lauded for its decision to ban short-haul flights, as every other rich nation is still too reluctant. Small conveniences like frivolously short air travel aren't worth pumping tons of CO2 into the air. Finally, some lawmakers have digested the reality of climate change and passed concrete legislation to save the planet.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Simple Flying.  As only 4% of European flights are less than 500 km (310 miles) in duration, this ban will cut carbon by an irrelevant fraction. The law also blatantly violates the freedom of movement agreement between EU member states, which allows airlines to provide flights between any point in the region. Now, those companies and their employees will be out of work due to lawmakers seeking political points.