The debate over the ban on short-haul flights continues to rage. The veto of the French government to three routes of less than 500 kilometers with an alternative by train and the coincidence with the announcement of a route of this style between Barcelona and Toulouse has triggered the controversy on the other side of the Pyrenees and the airlines fear that can be generalized in Spain. The fear that this discussion could enter the agenda of the electoral campaign and even extend to the meetings of the presidency of the European Union has activated the aviation sector, willing to ‘lobby’ to defend its interests.
Until now, the positioning of the different companies was central to the airlines, the airline association (ala), due to the latest TOS movements of some of them denote an interest in spreading a message that, from within the Sector, seems unanimous to today: banning short flights does not benefit the traveler. The last to join this debate has been Iberia, which this Wednesday presented the conclusions of a report commissioned to the PwC consultancy in which it quantifies the economic contribution generated by domestic flights
Domestic flights leave 329 million, according to PwC
PwC’s analysis concludes that the five routes likely to be replaced by high-speed train to reach Madrid —Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga and Seville— contributed 329 million euros and generated 6,000 full-time jobs during the year 2022 The direct impact of the aviation sector is estimated at 130 million, while the remaining 199 million would come from other complementary sectors such as hotels or restaurants.
The airlines share with the Government – whose official position continues to be the “no” to the veto of these flights – the argument that the transfer of passengers to the train has occurred naturally. The PwC study estimates the drop in passengers on these routes at more than 50%: from almost 9 million to just over 4 million between 2007 and 2019, a period in which the high-speed network progressively increased. To this they add the position that these flights only generate 1% of the CO2 emissions that occur each year in Spain.
Iberia, like other airlines, defends the need to maintain these connections “to guarantee national and international connectivity in peripheral areas and connect with medium and long-haul flights.” In the event that the veto ends up being formalized, it passes the ball to the Government and proposes the alternative of taking the high-speed train to Barajas. But not as it is conceived now —the current plan will allow the arrival of one or two trains an hour—, but guaranteeing that between eight and ten arrive in the same period, which would require significant state investment.
“Until there is a true intermodality that connects the airports with high speed, it is impossible to replace short-haul flights with train trips. Without domestic flights, the demand of the millions of travelers who need to connect with their medium or long-haul flights”, defended Beatriz Guillón, director of Global Sales of Iberia, in the presentation of the report.
“There are no magic solutions” to decarbonize
The previous week it was the general director of easyJet for southern Europe and president of the airline association, Javier Gándara, who questioned the usefulness of this measure. “I wish it were as easy as eliminating short flights could solve the decarbonization problems of the air sector,” he criticized in a meeting held at the Complutense University together with the CEO of Air Europa, Jesús Nuño de la Rosa.
Gándara explained that “there are no magical solutions”, but that the aviation sector has several lines of action in place to meet the decarbonization objectives. The main ones are technological innovations and the generalization of SAF, the biofuel in which the sector has pinned hopes to meet the requirements of the European Commission —Brussels set a reduction of its emissions by 55% for the year 2030—.
Hopes placed on hydrogen and the SAF
“Current planes are much more efficient than those of 30 years ago. Although the improvements are increasingly marginal, there are more and more disruptive investigations, such as hydrogen,” Gándara alleged. These first hydrogen aircraft, which would arrive in the period 2035-2040, could be dedicated to short-duration radio flights, although their limited autonomy would leave the great challenge of decarbonising long-haul journeys in the hands of the SAF.
Raised as a substitute for current kerosene, its cost is today between 3 and 4 times higher than the usual fuel. With a view to encouraging its production and lowering its final cost, the airline sector has set up a working group together with oil companies and public institutions under the name of the “Alliance for the Sustainability of Air Transport” with which they hope to agree with the Government some type of incentive that facilitates its production.
The airline industry has also spent years demanding the implementation of the Single European Sky, an instrument that would save up to 10% of the fuel used and whose installation is among the priorities of the Government of Spain during the presidency of the EU. To this measure would be added the request to Brussels that they guarantee overflights over third countries, “so that there will be no diversions or delays, which will also increase emissions” —as is the case today in France— and various market measures that may compensate emissions, lower the price of emission rights or taxes.