French officials are considering putting an end to cheap flights to help protect the environment by potentially raising ticket prices.
The situation comes as Europeans can buy plane tickets to various destinations for roughly the price of a fast-food meal at Wendy's. However, such days of cheap flights could soon come to an end.
France's New Airfare Plan
This is because France's chief transportation official has expressed his fears that this kind of practice is causing harm to our planet's environment. In an interview, Clement Beaune said that airlines should stop allowing the offering of bargain-basement airfares.
In a statement, he said that plane tickets are currently priced at roughly $10.80, which is simply impossible to maintain during a time of ecological transition. He added that this does not reflect the price of our home planet.
The French official said that he plans to present a new proposal for the European Union that would ban bargain airfares to increase the price of plane tickets. He said this is all part of "the fight against social and environmental dumping," as per the Western Journal.
The minister also announced earlier this month that there was a possibility of taxes on plane tickets being raised in an attempt to finance investments in ecological transition, specifically rail travel. Beaune proposed setting minimum airfare prices in the EU to reduce air travel and carbon emissions.
The situation comes as France has been leading the effort to cut its carbon footprint to help curb the threat of climate change. The French government in May banned domestic flights to destinations that travelers could otherwise reach by train in less than two and a half hours.
However, the measure faced criticism for not being impactful enough because it only affected three main flight routes that connected Paris-Orly Airport with Bordeaux, Lyon, and Nantes. Environmental groups have applauded the changes as they view frequent fliers as one of the worst climate offenders. However, some do not believe that France's efforts are enough.
Environmental Effects of Frequent Flyers
According to Euronews, a travel expert and founder of the Trains for Europe campaign, Jon Worth, said that anything that would make airlines pay a fair share of the environmental cost they create should be considered a good thing.
However, he said that the right way is to deal with frequent flyers and argued that the proposal is the wrong way to go about the situation. He said that while the measure might reduce nice city weekends for some people, it would not prevent frequent flyers considered the flying elite.
Despite his recent proposal, Beaune has been known to be against any discussion about a lifetime cap on air travel, as he said he does not believe in the restriction of mobility. This comes despite statistics showing that a relatively small number of air travelers make a large majority of the trips. Additionally, France's attempts to limit short-haul flights have failed as connecting flights are unaffected by new laws, said Simple Flying.
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