Publié le null - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)
Some domestic flights within France are canceled if an alternative direct rail link of less than 2 hours 30 minutes is possible. This has just been confirmed by the order in council issued in Official Journal May 23. Service-Public.fr provides an update on this new government action to address environmental issues.
Image 1Crédits: aapsky - stock.adobe.com
If a rail journey takes less than 2 hours 30 minutesHowever, users may now have to opt for the train instead of the plane. Some short-term domestic flights are now prohibited, as stipulated in the decree issued on May 23, 2023. A decision which is consistent with
government policy to encourage the use of less greenhouse gas-emitting modes of transportation
, says the Minister of Transport.
This French measure was one of the key provisions of the Climate and Resilience Law of 2021. The European Commission and the Council of State validated its implementation in December 2022.
On what criteria is the flight ban defined?
Article 1er the decree states that the prohibition applies to scheduled public air passenger services for which a rail link provides, in each direction, a journey of less than 2 hours 30:
between stations serving the same cities as the respective airports (where the most important airport on the route in terms of traffic is directly served by a high-speed rail service, the station used for the calculation of the alternative rail service shall be that serving that airport; in other cases, the station used shall be that of the city of the airport concerned);
no change of train between these two stations;
several times a day, with satisfactory service,
including affordability of alternative rail transport tariffs
specifies the decree;
and allowing the traveler to remain more than 8 hours onsite during the day, all year round (requires connections early in the morning and late in the evening).
Example :
for Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, it is the high-speed station serving the airport that is taken into account, and not the stations of Paris within the airport.
Connecting flights are not covered by the decree.
Please note
the decree applies for a period of 3 years. The Minister responsible for civil aviation will have to conduct an evaluation of the measure 24 months after its entry into force.
Which flights are involved?
To date, three air routes fall within the scope of the Decree:
Paris Orly-Nantes ;
Paris Orly-Lyon ;
Paris Orly-Bordeaux.
The links between the cities of Lyon or Rennes and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, and the Lyon-Marseille link are not affected at present, their deletion is mentioned in relation to an improvement of the railway network.
Please note
the european air services regulation provides (Article 20) that a Member State may, ‘where there are serious environmental problems ... limit or refuse the exercise of traffic rights, in particular where other modes of transport provide a satisfactory service’. This is the first time that this article has been invoked by a Member State.
