The researcher says that short flights could be banned in Finland either by removing the subsidies or by imposing a law on the matter, as in France.
In France, a government decree came into effect on Tuesday, banning air travel on domestic routes. The regulation applies to routes that can be traveled by train in less than two and a half hours.
Even in Finland, flights could be banned and it would also be profitable, says a university lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä who has studied the environmental effects and travel time of regional flights Stefan Baumeister.
– We have such a good train network that flights of less than 400 kilometers should be banned from my point of view. However, train connections are just as fast as airplanes, says Baumeister.
Baumeister considers 400 kilometers to be the limit of profitability. Flights over 400 kilometers away are a different matter in terms of time and profitability.
According to Baumeister, domestic flights are a very bad thing from an environmental point of view.
– It’s stupid that we have empty planes flying around Finland.
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The arrangement would require the removal of subsidies
For the arrangement to be successful in Finland, it would require the removal of state subsidies from short domestic flights. Baumeister describes that if the subsidies from the companies were removed, they would probably stop the unprofitable regional flights that sometimes run empty.
– If the state support ends, it would automatically stop these flights, says Baumeister.
In Finland, the flights to the five provincial airports will continue with government support at least until the spring of next year.
In the government’s supplementary budget, an allocation of 17 million euros is allocated to support regional flights.
In France, short flights are prohibited by climate law
Another option would be to influence the matter in legislation, as in France.
The ban on short flights was included in France’s climate law last year and was already being applied in practice, but some airlines had asked the European Commission to investigate the legality of the ban.
In France, according to the law, train connections equivalent to flights must operate often enough and they must take into account the possible increase in the number of passengers.
The regulation that has now entered into force mainly ends flights between Paris and regional centers such as Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux. The regulation has no effect on connecting flights.
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