Air travel: The French are stubborn in the air

Ecology

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The attractiveness of low-cost flights, the bridges of May are approaching… Despite the decline in domestic flights, air traffic is back at the pre-Covid level. However, more and more French people are choosing to travel differently.

In October, Lisa (1), a 64-year-old from Yvelines, will have to go to the northeast of Germany to perform with her choir. In the group of amateur singers, everyone took out a calculator: “A plane costs two to ten times less than a train, and the journey takes two hours, compared to nine for the train, with one transfer. It turned some singers away, she explains. It must be said that the average age must be 70 years. However, these are people who, before the arrival of the TGV, were used to spending a lot of time on the train and could understand that it is not easy to drink.

It will be a train for her, whatever it costs her. Because this retired teacher has made the decision to no longer travel by plane, as long as her destination is accessible by rail, and even to give up traveling if it involves going somewhere she can’t go east “no need to go”. It was the end of 2022, after a vacation in North America: “I have decided that this will be my last big trip. In fact, I’m denying myself destinations that are surely extraordinary. I’m sure Thailand, Patagonia or even Malta are beautiful, but there are many other places.

Worried about global warming and the future of her three grandchildren, Lisa is one of those French people who swear: from now on, they will avoid stepping foot in the air because of the heavy

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