Domestic flights prohibited: the UFC-What to choose wants a threshold at 4 hours for the alternative train - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The UFC-Que Choisir asks Friday to raise to 4 hours the threshold of prohibition of domestic flights when an alternative exists by train, the 2 hours 30 provided for by the Climate bill resulting according to it in a "derisory environmental gain ".

The consumer defense association estimates that placing the limit at 2:30 a.m. will result in the removal of only five lines, Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Lyon, Paris-Nantes, Paris-Rennes and Lyon-Marseille, representing a total of 12 % of domestic traffic in France.

But the reductions in CO2 emissions would only represent 3.5% of metropolitan air transport, underlines the UFC-Que Choisir.

The difference is explained by exemptions provided for connecting flights in the “Climate and Resilience” bill, currently under consideration in Parliament.

This measure constitutes a "direct path towards an inoperative measure", denounces the organization, which recommends exempting "not the lines but the travelers, when they can prove that they are in correspondence".

"This would lead companies to reduce their number of flights proportionately, and to preserve the scope of the measure without sacrificing access to long-haul flights from all over the country," argues the UFC.

More broadly, the association asks parliamentarians to return to the proposals of the Citizen's Convention on the climate which set the threshold at 4 hours.

Eighteen airlines would be affected, including Paris-Marseille, resulting in a 12.5% ​​drop in air carbon emissions.

The UFC assures that the train could absorb the postponement of air traffic in this scenario, while conceding that "supply shortages could appear at peak times or on busy days", and that some routes would take longer .

For customers, even if the train is on average cheaper than the plane on these routes, the UFC is worried about a "risk of SNCF monopoly" which could be mitigated by opening up to competition, and underlines the need for rail to offer services "up to" the expectations of users, "in terms of offer, reliability and comfort".

© 2021 AFP