Lawmakers in France Approve Ban On Short Domestic Flights

Parliament members in France voted on Saturday to abolish domestic flights on routes that can be covered by train in less than two and a half hours, as the government tries to reduce carbon emissions even as the air travel industry reels from the pandemic outbreak.

The new move is part of the more comprehensive climate bill that aims to cut French carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 from 1990. However, activists accused the President of Emmanuel Macron of watering down the design of the legislation.

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Voting came a few days after the State said it would contribute to the recapitalization of 30 billion euros ($ 4.76 billion) for Air France, more than doubling its shares in flag carrier, to sustain its finances after more than one year of the coronavirus outbreak.

Minister of Industry Agnes Pannier-Runacher rejected criticism from the aviation industry that the pandemic’s recovery was not the time to ban several domestic flights and said there was no contradiction between the bailout and climate bill.

“We know that flights are carbon dioxide contributors, and therefore because of climate change, we must reduce emissions,” he told Europe 1 radio. “Same, we must support our company and not let them fall on the roadside.”

Air traffic may not return to the pre-crisis level before 2024, McKinsey analyst estimated. Some environmental campaigners said the bill was not far enough. A citizen’s climate forum, founded by Macron to help form climate policies, has called for aviation cuts on routes where train travel is less than 4 hours. The choice of Saturday night in the National Assembly was the first. The bill entered the Senate before the third and last vote in the lower building, where the party and allies in power Macron dominated.