France's train and plane services to increase over Christmas

Train services will return to 100% operation from December 15 to January 4, 2021, France’s transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari has said, while flight services will also be increased.

Mr Djebbari has said that Air France will triple availability from December 15.

Air France tickets and train tickets will be exchangeable and with a possibility for reimbursement up until the day of departure, the minister said.

Travel services have been reduced while the country is under lockdown.

The minister made the announcements in an interview with news channel LCI.

He said that he has asked France’s railway company SNCF to reinforce its sanitary protocol and has promised that there will not be an “overloading of trains”.

France’s lockdown will be lifted on December 15 to be replaced with a curfew, if Covid-related health objectives are met.

This will allow for the return of international and inter-regional travel.

Mr Djebbari dismissed the idea of aeroplane passengers being required to have a Covid-19 vaccine before travelling.

The CEO of Australia’s largest airline Qantas has said that its passengers will be required to have the vaccine.

Mr Djebbari said he felt the company had spoken “a little too quickly” and that the idea “had not been supported by the Australian government”.

“It’s not an airline or a rail operator that decides whether or not vaccines are compulsory, it’s the health and government authorities,” he said.

In a speech on November 24, President Emmanuel Macron said that any Covid-19 vaccine would not be made mandatory.

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