Short flights within France

[Char]

To fight climate change, France bans domestic flights where cities are linked by train with a journey time of two and a half hours or less. Will mean flights between Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux and Lyons will be shut down.

Is the first country in the world to introduce such a ban.

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[Blaze]

It will mean providing an efficient train service if they want to keep people off the roads. I have no idea of the difference in cost for air vs. rail ...

[exile]

Well that will stuff Air France and its long haul traffic for passengers not going to Paris.

Instead of flying say New York to Paris and then Paris to Lyon all Air France. This then becomes New York to Paris, pick up your luggage drag it down to the TGV station then TGV Paris to Lyon. And Lyon is a good destination. I am not sure you can get to Nantes from CDG directly.

So what do we think savvy travellers will do?

BA - New York - London Heathrow, London Heathrow to Lyon pick up luggage

or

Iberia - New York - Madrid, Madrid - Lyon

or

Lufthansa - New York - Frankfurt or Munich then direct on to Lyon.

[niemeyjt]

I wonder how that will work with "dual-hosted" airports like Basel and Geneva.

[exile]

It will mean providing an efficient train service if they want to keep people off the roads. I have no idea of the difference in cost for air vs. rail ...

Booked in advance TGV will be cheaper, but if you have to travel at relatively short notice unless you can get a OUIGO service then driving may well be cheaper.

[exile]

I wonder how that will work with "dual-hosted" airports like Basel and Geneva.

I cannot, off the top of my head, think of an air destination from either airport that would be less than 2.5 hours by train.

Going back to long haul, I guess Air France will just have to switch passengers to routes through Schipol using their KLM partners. Good for the Dutch of course.

[MAD87]

And it won't make a damned bit of difference to places like Limoges, from which you can go almost nowhere, whatever the method!

[Veem]

And it won't make a damned bit of difference to places like Limoges, from which you can go almost nowhere, whatever the method!

Perhaps fly Ryanair Limoges to Stansted and then on to Paris by Ryanair again.

[Pathca]

Limoges Manchester then wherever

[Bayleaf]

But the priviledged and the policitians can continue to fly their private jets whenever and wherever they like ....

I'd heard on the grapevine that train prices in France had rocketed recently, which has encouraged more people to fly for work purposes.