France short-haul flight ban points way to cleaner flying

Bloomberg

A French initiative to ban commercial air travel on some domestic routes could prove to be an example for other countries seeking to make flying cleaner.
The bill making its way through parliament would forbid conventional air travel when there’s an alternative by train that takes under 2.5 hours.
The legislation advanced in the National Assembly over the weekend as part of a broader debate on climate legislation and still needs to go through the Senate.
“This policy really has the potential to accelerate all sustainable aviation options,” said Venkat Viswanathan, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University. “Among them it could really push electric aviation forward.”
Aviation was one of
the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions
before the coronavirus pandemic brought global travel to a halt. In 2019, the sector produced about 2% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, according to industry group ATAG.
Shorter flights are among the most-polluting. While France made domestic route cutbacks a condition of aid to the French arm of Air France-KLM last year, no country has extended the measures to its broader domestic aviation market.
Fossil fuels remain the least expensive option to power planes, even as cleaner alternatives are being developed.
Sustainable aviation fuels are available in small volumes, battery-powered flights for fewer than 400 miles are almost ready and aviation giant Airbus SE is designing hydrogen planes that won’t be ready for more than a decade.
The law states that exemptions for “decarbonised” flights will be provided in the future. That could open up a market for lower-carbon short-haul flights, creating a space for sustainable alternatives that could help bring costs down further, Viswanathan said.