Rail lines are massively subsidized and the French government is regularly bailing out SNCF (the national rail company). So imho it not clear that the global market distortion is in the favor of plane.

Many airports are also subsidized. Basically every kind of transportation is subsidized to the point that figuring out the true cost is really hard.

Just like cars are heavily subsidised through motorway building. Every form of transport receives subsidies as a public good, even in countries where transport infrastructure is nominally privatised. This is one area where letting the free market decide invariably ends in disaster.

> Jet fuel is tax free in the EU, a huge market-distorting subsidy:

Also, are the externalities of jet exhaust taken into account? Is there any kind of carbon pricing in EU/France?