Spain flights: Plan announced to ban domestic short-haul flights that can take less than two and a half hours by train

Spain has announced it will be banning some of its short-haul domestic flights that can take less than two and a half hours on a train. It is part of the country’s plan to reduce carbon emissions and is part of an agreement made in Congress by Spain’s coalition government.

Spain has been considering a ban since 2021 as part of its 2050 climate action plan. Flights with a rail alternative that takes less than two and a half hours will no longer be allowed “except in cases of connection with hub airports that link with international routes”. The text agreed by the two political parties - PSOE and Sumar - also seeks to analyse the potential impact of restricting private jet use.

Initially Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz’s draft proposal included getting rid of short-haul flights with rail alternatives of less than four hours but it has now been reduced to two and a half hours. According to a study released last year by Ecologistas en Acción, the initial draft proposal would have saved up to 300,000 tonnes of CO2 and 50,000 flights per year. 

The plans have not been welcome by all political parties in Spain. Opposition parties PP and Vox are against a ban with the latter saying it would make Spain “less competitive”. 

PP member Guillermo Mariscal said he believes the ban would be “ineffective” as it would only result in a 0.06 per cent reduction in emissions according to data from the College of Aircraft Engineers (COIAE). Last year COIAE said in a statement that it disagreed with a plan to cut flights of under three hours, claiming it would have almost zero impact on carbon emissions. It said that “in the face of such reduced benefits, the damage that would be caused to the air transport industry in Spain will be considerable”.

Spain’s move comes after the French government officially banned domestic flights for journeys that can be made in less than two and a half hours by train in May last year. For France the number of flights actually impacted by the measures  was minimal - and the same could happen for Spain. 

It isn’t clear yet when measures will be introduced or which routes will be affected. The ban will still need to go through several more stages of amendments before it can be approved by the Senate and finally become law.