Going green

PLANET FRIENDLY TRAVEL NEWS BY

Domestic short-haul flights have been banned in France where alternative train routes exist in a bid to cut carbon emissions.

Just one month after the UK slashed tax on internal flights, Emmanuel Macron’s government has introduced a ban on certain aviation routes within the country.

In a bid to cut carbon emissions, routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours have been banned.

Holidaymakers will no longer be able to travel by air between Paris and cities such as Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux, although connecting flights will be unaffected.

The ban kicks in two years after the law was passed, with the two-and-a-half hour train journey alternative brought down from four hours following push back from airlines.

French consumer group UFC-QUE Choisir had called on lawmakers to retain the four-hour limit so even more domestic routes would be blocked.

“On average, a plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger than a train on these routes, even though the train is cheaper and the time lost is limited to 40 minutes,” it said.

Transport minister Clément Beaune said the ban aimed to cut down on private jet use, claiming the country could no longer tolerate the super rich using the luxury form of aviation.

The move is a major one when it comes to cutting emissions from air travel, which is one of the most polluting ways to travel on a per passenger basis.

The UK government appears to be heading in the opposite direction, with a halving of air passenger duty (APD) – first introduced by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor – kicking in on April 1.

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