France bans domestic flights: what they are and why
After the green light from the European Union, France enacted the law officially banning the stop to [...]
CDG
After the green light from the European Union, France enacted the law officially banning the stop To some short-range domestic connections.
In this article:
In detail, the connections are those that can be operated by train within two and a half hours of travel time.
Flights replaced by train
According to transalpine law, therefore, it will be air travel between Paris and Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux to be replaced by train routes. The rule does not apply, however, to connecting flights and also to the route Paris-Marseille.
In the latter case, in fact, the train takes about three hours to connect the two cities, thus exceeding by half an hour the limit that requires the substitution of airplane for train.
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The airports of Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux are therefore reachable by air only if you have a ticket that includes these hubs as the final or starting destination of an international route that includes a stopover in Paris.
For example, it is possible to purchase a Toronto-Nantes ticket (with a stopover in Paris) and all service will be operated via air. In contrast, it will not be possible to purchase a ticket for a direct flight Pargi-Nantes and in this case the option of making the same journey via train applies.
The guarantees of the alternatives
French government law, however, requires that the rail services on the same route airline should ensure frequency, timeliness and punctuality at the levels of an air link.
For example, a traveler must be able to make a round trip by train on the same day after spending at least eight hours at the destination.
What would happen in Italy?
If such a law were to be passed in Italy, what would be the flights that could no longer be operated? Excluding all routes to Sardinia and Sicily, which for obvious reasons require an air connection, the option in Italy would also be very limited due to the geographical layout and the system of connections by train.
The Rome-Milan, for example, sees high-speed trains employing. at least 3 hours of travel timea: consequently, the flight should also be guaranteed. Same for longer routes such as Rome-Venice or Turin-Naples.
La Apennine ridge and the lack of a high-speed network developed in the South, implies that the train almost always takes more than 2.5 hours to cover distances between major cities.
The only routes that would be abolished are the Rome-Naples, the Rome-Florence and the Rome-Bologna.
The first two can be reached by train within 1.5 hours; the third needs 2 hours by rail. In any case, flights operated by Ita Airways on these very short routes are almost all connections that feed intercontinental or international flights (thus connecting)
