Europe pushes trains over short-haul flights: France to ban short flights in April 2022

Travellers planning to hopscotch their way across Europe using the continent's cheap airfares may be in for a shock, with France becoming the first country to slash domestic flights in order to meet the European Union's ambitious carbon reduction targets. From April this year, the French government is banning short flights where train journeys of 2.5 hours or less exist, which includes routes from Paris to popular destinations such as Bordeaux and Lyon. "The government has been encouraging passengers to catch trains, and now they are taking it to the next step," says Air France's George Siljanoski. The French ban makes an exception for flights that connect to international flights, so a routing such as Lyon-Paris-Singapore-Sydney is still possible. However, the reduced number of domestic flights means that travellers will have to plan ahead. Other countries considering similar bans include Spain and some Scandinavian countries. Germany has already doubled the taxes on short-haul flights and is also exploring the idea while in Austria, the national carrier has dropped its popular Vienna to Salzburg route. Passengers arriving in Vienna now have to transfer to a train service for the final leg to Salzburg. Environmental groups are demanding more action, with Greenpeace EU agitating for a ban on flights where an alternative rail trip of less than six hours exists. However, longer routes generate an outsize share of emissions. According to European air traffic management organisation Eurocontrol, long-haul flights generate half of all carbon emissions within Europe although they make up just six per cent of flights.<br/>