Aviation: France prohibits short domestic flights – 05/23/2023 – Market

The ban on domestic flights in France, when there is an alternative by train for a trip of less than two and a half hours, came into force this Tuesday (23), after some controversy in the context of combating climate change.

The country’s official gazette published the measure, provided for by the Climate Law of August 22, 2021, but which was suspended while the European Commission analyzed an appeal from the airline sector.

The ban, which does not affect connecting flights, applies to journeys between the same cities as the flights and which allow for more than eight hours a day at the destination.

In practice, the flights that meet the requirements of the decree are those that connect Paris to medium-sized cities such as Nantes (west), Lyon (east) or Bordeaux (southwest).

The law has already been applied in practice because the government forced Air France to give up flights in exchange for financial aid in May 2020, amid the Covid-19 crisis.