Bruno Le Maire

The French parliamentarians voted by a majority for a ban on domestic flights on routes that can be covered by train in less than two and a half hours. Flights from Paris to Lyon or Bordeaux could thus soon be a thing of the past.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had already voiced such ideas in May 2020, when state aid for AirFrance-KLM was decided. The weekend's vote picks up on these plans and aims to help reduce CO₂ emissions permanently - even if the air travel industry picks up again after the global pandemic. The ban is part of a broader climate law that aims to reduce French carbon dioxide emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

The government of France forecasts an 11% shrinkage of its GDP. The economic expectation announcement came from from France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on the radio on Tuesday. "The hardest part is still ahead of us in social and economic terms", so Le Maire.

The European Union's competition watchdog on Monday approved French state aid worth 7 billion euros for Air France-KLM.

Conditions for the funding. Include the requirement for the company to be a “good customer” for European planemaker Airbus SE, which is also struggling, and a revamp of loss-making services within France.

“There will be an elimination of domestic routes,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday on France-Inter radio, adding that the state aid is tied to “Air France becoming the company that most respects the environment.”