“I want to reiterate that this support for Air France is not a blank cheque,” France’s economy and finance minister, Mr Bruno Le Maire, told the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly on April 29.
The ban on short-haul domestic air travel will apply to routes where trains offer a journey time of 2h 30min or less. This means Air France will no longer be able to sell tickets for domestic travel on flights between Paris and Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes or Rennes. Only passengers using these flights to connect with flights to other destinations will be allowed to travel by air.
“The plane should no longer be a means of transporting [people] in one hour or one hour 15 minutes which could be done at lower cost of CO2 by train in two hours or two hours 30,” Le Marie told BFM TV. “This must be the rule and we will enforce it.”
Le Marie wants Air France to be more profitable, more competitive, and the most environmentally friendly airline. Air France will have to reduce its CO2 emissions per passenger-km by 50% between 2005 and 2030 and cut CO2 emissions on its short-haul flights by 50% by the end 2024. Air France will also have to reach target of using 2% of its fuel from sustainable sources by 2025.
