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We have a look at the tales affecting journey to, from and round France this week. 

Transavia to launch seven new summer time routes 

Low-cost Air France-KLM group subsidiary Transavia has introduced the launch of seven new routes for the summer time 2023 season. 

In summer time 2022, Transavia boosted its providing by 71% as compared with 2019. 

Subsequent summer time, the airline will probably be increasing the listing of locations it serves from Paris-Orly. It’s going to fly to Venice 4 occasions every week – on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays – from March 26, and Oslo 4 occasions every week – on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays – from April 20.

It’s going to even be working flights from Orly to Almeria 3 times every week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April 22 and Paphos on Saturdays from April 22.

Along with this, Transavia will start flying between Lyon and Antalya (Turkey) on Mondays from April 10, between Nantes and Antalya on Saturdays from April 15 and between Marseille and Yerevan (Armenia) on Tuesdays from June 27.

Lastly, Transavia can also be extending its Orly-Lamezia Terme (Italy), Lyon-Dakar (Senegal), Lyon-Hurghada (Egypt) and Good-Tunis (Tunisia) routes. 

New Paris-Madrid high-speed rail hyperlink on playing cards

Italian practice operator Trenitalia has introduced that it may launch a brand new Paris-Madrid high-speed practice service by the tip of 2024, Euronews reports.

Since December 2021, Trenitalia has been working providers between Paris and Milan and Paris and Lyon, and since November 2022 it has been linking up Barcelona, Zaragoza and Madrid. 

The brand new practice hyperlink would take passengers from Paris to Barcelona, from the place the present line already runs to Madrid. 

Italy’s high-speed trains can attain as much as 400km/h (249m/h). It at present takes passengers round seven hours to get from Paris to Milan. 

It’s not but recognized how lengthy the brand new Paris-Madrid service would take.

UK to chill out cabin baggage liquid restrictions 

The UK authorities has introduced that it’s planning to chill out the restrictions it at present locations on liquids being transported in cabin baggage. 

In the meanwhile, passengers can carry a number of various kinds of liquids however every should be in a container for 100ml or much less and all of those containers should slot in a transparent plastic bag of a selected dimension. 

Liquids in bigger containers – corresponding to a 250ml shampoo bottle, for instance – should go into check-in baggage. These guidelines are echoed in dozens of nations world wide. 

The comfort would happen in June 2024, and can be the results of technological advances which might reportedly allow as much as two-litre bottles to be checked safely and accepted at safety. 

The brand new guidelines would additionally imply that digital units corresponding to laptops wouldn’t must be taken out of a passenger’s baggage to be checked. 

The brand new know-how, which is being trialled, would offer three-dimensional photos of the contents of baggage, utilizing algorithms to detect any menace.

Authorities ministers say that this would scale back queuing occasions at UK airports.

‘Slight disruption’ anticipated on trains this weekend 

Rail providers will probably be “barely disrupted” tomorrow (December 17) due to an SNCF sign employees strike, the nationwide operator has warned. 

On the TGV Atlantique community, 9 in each 10 trains will probably be working, whereas two in three trains will probably be working on Paris-Sud-Ouest providers. 

On all different high-speed traces, SNCF is anticipating a “regular or nearly regular” service.

In all, round 20 of 650 TGV trains scheduled for tomorrow will probably be cancelled. 

Transport Minister Clément Beaune has instructed France Inter that, though numerous strike notices have been issued for December 15 to 19, “nearly all of providers will probably be assured”. 

He added: “We’ll attempt to minimise the disruption however usually we can have trains for many households and folks in France this weekend.” 

Nevertheless, Julien Troccaz, federal secretary of the SUD-Rail union, instructed Franceinfo that: “The minister is doing a PR train. There will probably be TER – on a regular basis trains – cancelled [and] changed by buses. There’ll even be traces closed” in some areas, he claimed. 

Learn additionally: Christmas travel France: latest on air and rail strikes

Visitors round Paris on this primary Christmas vacation weekend 

This weekend kids in France break up for his or her Christmas vacation, and so nationwide visitors forecasting service Bison Futé has warned of some visitors points right now (December 16) as households head off on breaks. 

Individuals attempting to get out of Ile-de-France right now might discover that circumstances are “troublesome” and are due to this fact suggested to go away the Paris area earlier than 14:00. 

Bison Futé has additionally acknowledged that there could also be heavy visitors round different massive cities as nicely.

Nevertheless, no visitors alerts have been issued for tomorrow or Sunday (December 17-18), suggesting that individuals trying to make lengthy journeys across the nation shouldn’t expertise any important difficulties. 

Brittany Ferries celebrates 50 years with French-themed get together

Brittany Ferries will have fun the fiftieth anniversary of its first crossing from France with a French-themed get together in Plymouth on January 2, 2023.

The primary Brittany Ferries voyage docked at Millbay on January 2, 1973, carrying cauliflowers and cognac from Roscoff, the Plymouth Herald reports

Twinning committees from cities and villages throughout Brittany have been invited to journey on the Pont-Aven ferry to Plymouth, and will probably be met at Millbay by their British twinning counterparts. 

They’ll then attend a day reception and gala dinner on board the ship.

“Since our first crusing, Brittany Ferries goal has been to counterpoint areas by connecting individuals and boosting commerce,” Christophe Mathieu, Brittany Ferries’ CEO, stated. 

“We need to strengthen the entente cordiale between people who find themselves nearer to one another culturally and geographically, than they’re to centres of energy in Paris and London.”

Demonstration in Limoges calling for higher Paris rail hyperlinks 

An illustration was held on Monday (December 12) in entrance of the station in Limoges to name for SNCF to develop higher rail hyperlinks between the Limousin area and Paris. 

The occasion concerned enterprise leaders, native officers, unions and people, with round 250 individuals current.

The demonstration got here days after the CEO of {the electrical} large Legrand group questioned the “curiosity” in conserving an organization base in Limoges after the 06:00 morning practice hyperlink to Paris was eliminated. 

Members have been protesting towards the delays, cancellations and disruption on some providers, in addition to the decreased frequency of providers on the Brive-Limoges-Paris line.

In response to the opposition provoked by the removing of the morning practice service, SNCF reinstated a Paris-bound practice at 06:26.

Nevertheless, this service will take three hours and 51 minutes. Pierre Massy, president of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie, commented: “That’s the time it takes to get from Paris to Aix-en-Provence. They haven’t given a rattling for years and Limoges’ isolation is changing into ridiculous.” 

Strasbourg inaugurates RER service 

Strasbourg launched its Réseau categorical métropolitain européen (Reme) service on Sunday (December 11), making town the primary in France exterior Ile-de-France to have an RER community. 

The RER system has been within the works since 2018. There will probably be 800 practice providers obtainable every week at first, rising to 1,000 from summer time 2023. This represents a 43% rise within the metropolis’s transport providing.

In 13 stations in and round Strasbourg, there will probably be a practice working each quarter-hour, and it is going to be attainable for individuals to journey between totally different cities exterior town with out having to alter within the centre. 

Specific bus providers will even assist to hyperlink up totally different areas across the metropolis area. 

The opening comes two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron introduced that he hopes to develop RER networks for 10 French cities. 

This RER challenge required €700million, in accordance with the regional council. An extra €600million will probably be wanted over the following 5 years to construct new hyperlinks to Germany. 

Strasbourg’s new RER has been criticised by some SNCF unions, which have commented on delays within the supply of trains and the recruitment of workers.

“We have been already failing to satisfy the 2022 transport plan for the Reme, we met it on 15 days over the yr at most,” Alexandre Welsch of SUD-Rail stated. “So with 130 additional trains every day, with nearly the identical variety of workers, is not going to be possible.”  

EasyJet strike formally off however French Bee strike may have an effect on US flights  

French EasyJet cabin crews have formally accepted a wage provide geared toward stopping a strike over the Christmas interval. 

Air stewards and stewardesses have been provided a 7.5% enhance to their baseline wage and a 3.5% increase to variable parts, in addition to a prime Macron bonus of €3,000. 

Unions representing the employees have accepted this and so there is not going to be a strike at Christmas. 

“The administration got here again to us with a brand new proposal that we couldn’t refuse,” the SNPNC stated, whereas the Unac union additionally confirmed having signed an settlement.

Nevertheless, unions representing low-cost, long-haul airline French Bee have issued a strike discover for December 22 till December 25, which may have an effect on flights to the US. 

French Bee flies to Los Angeles, Newark and San Francisco, as nicely French Polynesia, the Dominican Republic and Reunion Island. 

Cabin crew represented by the CGT and SNPNC-FO are protesting towards their working circumstances and pay, and calling for his or her pay scale to be elevated by 12%, contemplating that it has “not modified since 2016”.

“Now the primary six bands on the grid are beneath minimal wage,” the unions stated. 

“After two years of colossal efforts from air stewards and stewardesses, the lack of greater than 21% of their wage by way of the Accord de efficiency collective, common inflation and the rise in the price of dwelling throughout stopovers, working circumstances have actually declined.” 

The motion might be renewed if the unions deem it mandatory.

Learn extra: Pay rise agreement averts French EasyJet Christmas strike

French mayor authorises Father Christmas to fly over airport 

The mayor of Saint-Aignan-de-Grand-Lieu (Loire-Atlantique) has signed a decree authorising Father Christmas to fly over his commune throughout the nighttime curfew imposed on Nantes Airport. 

Since April 2022, planes haven’t been allowed to land on the airport between midnight and 06:00 in order to forestall native residents from being woken in the course of the night time.

Nevertheless, the youngsters of Saint-Aignan can sleep protected within the information that Father Christmas will probably be exempted from this rule over Christmas. 

In doing this, the mayor Jean-Claude Lemasson hopes to remind airways which may ignore the principles that there’s a curfew in place. 

“We’ve got detected greater than 200 rule breaks since April,” Mr Lemasson stated. “We’re observing a major variety of landings between midnight and 01:00, adopted by some take-offs between 03:00 and 03:30.

“We need to present that we nonetheless exist, on the finish of the runway. We’re asking for our sleep to be revered by the federal government and airways, that they don’t go too far with their rule breaking.” 

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