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THE French National Assembly has voted to approve a ban on internal flights where an alternative train journey is available on a trip of 2h 30min or less following a long consultation exercise on climate change.

The assembly also agreed to ban the construction of new airports or airport expansions which result in an increase in emissions.

The legislation follows a €7bn loan from the French government to Air France, [...] which stipulated that the airline must withdraw all domestic flights that compete with a rail alternative. This covered flights from Paris to Bordeaux, Nantes and Rennes. The parliament ruling means the ban will now apply to other airlines although it does exclude connecting flights.

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In contrast to France, the British government is currently consulting on a plan to halve the tax on domestic flights by cutting air passenger duty, a move widely criticised by climate change advocates. Around 500,000 air passengers travelled between Manchester and London in 2019, a journey which takes around 2 hours by train. Cutting air duty is expected to increase demand.

BDL and DB see the potential for around 20% of those travelling by plane within Germany – around 4.3 million people per year before the pandemic – to choose rail instead. This will be achieved by offering reliable services, attractive offers and ongoing infrastructure expansion.

Germany’s aviation sector carried around 23 million passengers in 2019, with 8 million connecting with long-haul flights and 15 million making domestic trips. Both BDL and DB believe that around a sixth of CO₂ from domestic aviation could be avoided by reducing domestic air traffic.