The affairs of European carriers are beginning to “smell of kerosene”: not yet having overcome all the consequences of the pandemic, a new misfortune happened for them – the struggle of European governments with domestic air travel in the interests of the environment. This trend is rapidly gaining momentum. And now the first country in the world decided to completely ban aircraft flights. We are talking about Belgium, where Federal Minister of Transport Georges Gilkinet called for a ban on all domestic flights, including private jets. At the same time, we recall that the matter is no longer limited to conscriptions.
According to the Belgian media, although Belgium is a small country, on average there are five domestic flights per day, usually at distances of less than 100 km/h. Moreover, private jets account for 71% of domestic flights in the country. The head of the Ministry of Transport called this situation “absurd from both an economic and environmental point of view.”
At the same time, Mr. Gilkinet said that he had submitted to Parliament a bill to ban domestic flights – and expressed the hope that this step by Belgium would become an example for all of Europe. According to him, domestic flights in Belgium are “environmental nonsense”.
Recall that the case is not limited to calls. The French parliament has voted to suspend short domestic flights if a train journey on a similar route takes no more than 2.5 hours or less. The decision was made with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and caring for the climate. The law will come into force after its approval by the Senate. Withdrawal threatens the Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Lyon, Paris-Nantes, Paris-Rennes, Lyon-Marseille routes. Flights from Paris to Toulouse, which take four hours by train, and flights from Paris to Nice, which take about six hours by train, will remain on the schedule. Read the details at this link.
Spain is also trying to follow France. There, flights are trying to close “as part of efforts to combat climate change.” According to the Spanish press, it is claimed that air travel in Spain produces twice as much carbon dioxide as high-speed trains. At the same time, only between Barcelona and Madrid, 5.7 thousand flights were made per year. Between these cities 650 km., That is just 2.5 hours of travel by train. Read the details in this article.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The dentist reported why teeth turn yellow and gray after nerve removal.”