French lawmakers approve a ban on short domestic flights

Re:French lawmakers approve a ban on short domestic flights by lumost on Sunday April 11, 2021 @09:06PM (#26775150)

when comparing driving to flying between destinations, it's highly likely that the flight will have a shorter duration.

The big wrinkle in this comparison is that planes burn most of their energy in the ascent to cruising speed/altitude. Energy consumption per mile is likely to be much higher on a short hop flight where cruising altitude is never reached than a 12 hour transoceanic flight.

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Re:French lawmakers approve a ban on short domestic flights by asdfasgasdgasdg on Sunday April 11, 2021 @09:25PM (#26775272)

On the other hand short-haul flights don't climb to as high of altitudes. They only climb about 2/3rds as high. But then again the air is thicker so cruising is less efficient. Oh gosh, for want of data.

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Re:French lawmakers approve a ban on short domestic flights by jrockway on Monday April 12, 2021 @01:16AM (#26776259)

You have to assume that airlines have chosen a decent compromise here. Every wasted joule of energy translates to a higher fuel cost and a lower profit margin.

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