France moves to ban short-haul domestic flights

French lawmakers have moved to ban short-haul internal flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.

The planned measures will face a further vote in the Senate before becoming law.

The measures could affect travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux.

But the French government had faced calls to introduce even stricter rules on domestic flights.

Saturday's vote came days after the French government more than doubled its stake in Air France.

The government had previously offered €7bn ($8.3bn, £6bn) in loans to help the airline weather the pandemic, although France's economy minister said at the time the funding was dependent on the airline scrapping some of its domestic flights.

This is not the first time similar measures have been introduced.

Last year, Austrian Airlines replaced a flight route between the capital Vienna and the city of Salzburg with an increased train service, after receiving a government bailout with provisions to cut its carbon footprint.

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