The National Assembly voted on Saturday evening at first reading to abolish domestic flights in the event of alternatives by train of less than 2:30.

Invited Sunday evening on Europe 1, the aviation specialist Michel Polacco estimated that the environmental impact of such a measure would be negligible.

INTERVIEW

The Citizen's Climate Convention had called for giving up domestic airlines in the event of alternatives of less than four hours by train.

This should ultimately only be in case of alternatives by train of less than 2:30.

In any case, this is what the National Assembly voted on Saturday evening at first reading as part of the climate bill.

Consequence: internal air links between Paris (Orly) and Nantes, Lyon or Bordeaux could be canceled.

However, there are exceptions for connecting journeys.

Asked about the positive environmental impact of such a measure, the aviation specialist Michel Polacco said that it would be tiny, Sunday on Europe 1.

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The government had already forced Air France to give up the routes concerned 

For him, the benefit for the planet will therefore be "more than at the margin".

Michel Polacco believes that this measure was rather decided because "Air France has been losing money on these lines" for some time.

The government bill effectively ratifies the existing one, since the government had forced Air France to give up the routes concerned in return for financial support in May 2020. The professional pilot therefore sees in the vote of the Assembly an "act surgery necessary for several years "for the company" that nobody dared to undertake ".

Further proof of this logic, according to Michel Polacco, is that "the Orly-Lyon, Orly-Bordeaux and Orly-Nantes lines" are being removed.

"We are not eliminating Charles de Gaulle-Nantes, Charles de Gaulle-Bordeaux or Charles de Gaulle-Lyon. Why? Because Air France has its long haul at Charles de Gaulle and we must continue to supply Air's long haul France ", he decrypts.

Carrying out this step within the framework of the climate bill thus makes it possible, according to him, to dress the measure "in green" and to satisfy "at the same time the demands of environmentalists".

Still, other lines could be affected, such as Paris-Rennes or Lyon-Marseille.

A decree will specify this.