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The European Commission has approved France's plan to ban short-haul internal flights between cities where alternative, regular and direct rail routes are available - to try and reduce carbon emissions.

This ban will affect flights where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours. Currently this is three routes: flights between Paris-Orly airport and the cities of Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon.

If rail services improve, routes from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Lyon Saint Exup茅ry could also be added.

France initially included the ban in 2021 climate law, but French airports and airlines challenged the legality of it.

Outside Source heard from two passengers who both live in France.

One says: "I do think there will need to be some work to democratise train travel... it still remains a much more expensive option than flying."

(Photo: A passenger walks past an intercity high-speed train at Paris-Gare-de-Lyon train station in Paris on July 29, 2022. Credit: Bertrand Guay via Getty Images)

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