EU approves stop to short-haul flights in France
We had already talked about it, France was considering regulating the use of Private Jets, especially for short routes, to [...]
France
We had already talked about it, France was thinking of regulate the use of private jets, especially for routes short, to try to reduce the unnecessary emissions.
In this article:
There goes a little revolution in the world of civil aviation, the European Union in fact confirmed that the French government's ban on short-haul flights è legal, at least for the required period, i.e. 3 years.
The practice in France is not to operate short-haul flights if there is a viable, less polluting alternative, such as the train, to complete a journey in less than 2 1/2 hours by rail.
The ban was first imposed in 2021 and affected 8 routes in particular, after a tug of war between environmentalists, companies in the aviation world and the European Commission now the die is cast, it has in fact been attested that there are rail lines capable of carrying the same amount of passengers, connecting the same city but with a savings of Co2 significant.
New "prohibited" routes may be added if the rail network is enhanced and connect more and more cities in less time, but for now the ban will be in effect for more 2 years in which regulators will have a way and time to review conditions for the future.
A principle of non-competition will be in force, which means there will be no exceptions between airlines; the law is the same for everyone. The French aviation industry has taken reluctantly the news, arguing that short-haul links connect cities that do not have optimized rail service and that the emission savings are minimal.
While minimal as I see it, it is still a beginning, Environmentalists see the approval of the ban as a small but important victory:
"The French ban on short-haul flights where there are fast train connections is a small step, but it is in the right direction. The small improvement that the EU demanded from the French government is good, but now is the time to remove any outstanding ambiguities and make it clear to other EU countries that banning short-haul flights is the way forward.
It is time for Europe to limit the skyrocketing emissions from the aviation industry and instead invest in climate-friendly transportation."
Thomas Gelin, Greenpeace representative
Do you agree with the endorsement? Do you think it is important Reduce our carbon foot print? Let us know what you think in the comments!
