Briefs

摘要

FRANCE-European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager welcomed the “green policy choices” embedded in the €7 billion ($7.6 billion) aid package Air France will receive, namely the permanent closure of short-haul domestic routes in France where there is a train service alternative available of under 2 ? hours (JFI May4’20). The state aid is tied to “Air France becoming the company that most respects the environment,” said Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, adding that “the cost [of short flights] in terms of carbon emissions is too high.” France’s high-speed TGV trains are virtually carbon-free as fossil fuels account for under 10% of the country’s power mix. Le Maire gave the example of Bordeaux, 500 km southwest of Paris, as one major city that could lose its current service of 10 daily flights to Paris. Air France had previously suspended cer-tain routes, such as Paris-Strasbourg in 2016, because they could no longer compete profitably with trains.