The abolition of domestic airlines in France, where there is an alternative train in less than two and a half hours, will apply to all airlines and not just Air France, said Monday the Secretary of State for Transport Jean- Baptiste Djebbari on RTL.
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" We are going to ask for Air France bailout environmental conditions. Among these conditions, it is effectively that Air France is withdrawing from the routes, in particular to Orly, for which there is a rail alternative within two and a half hours , "said Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
But “ it is obviously not conceivable that operators of any kind, in particular low cost, come to join it. So we will take a decree for environmental reasons, obviously compatible with European law, so that there are not, effectively, these distorting effects of competition, "he added. " The lines will be removed in consultation with the regions, " said the Secretary of State, referring to discussions that must begin " at the return of summer ".
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Asked about rumors of 8,000 to 10,000 job cuts at Air France, as part of a savings plan, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said he could not confirm these figures. " What I note is that if the State had not lent Air France 7 billion euros, tens of thousands of jobs would be in danger today, " he said. he declares.
" No one (...) can say what the state of air transport will be in six months, in a year, in 18 months, " said Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. “ The most rational thing to do is what we did: it was to save Air France-KLM, it is to look transparently and lucidly at what will happen to air transport and that Air France adjusts, "he said.
