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France to Reduce Domestic Air, Rail Links to Limit Travel

France to Reduce Domestic Air, Rail Links to Limit Travel

(Bloomberg) --

France will gradually reduce domestic transport links by air, rail and bus as the nation takes increasingly drastic measures to limit public life to fight the coronavirus epidemic.

“We need to limit long distance transport to a strict minimum,” French Minister Elisabeth Borne said at a press conference in Paris. Flights, high-speed TGV and bus routes will gradually be stopped and some airport terminals serving the capital will be closed, she said.

Air France-KLM has already pulled flights as demand drops, and from Monday it will have a “very reduced” operation with some flights to the U.S. and Africa, and within France and to overseas territories, said Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, the junior transport minister. France is repatriating citizens from Morocco, he added.

“Everyone will be able to get home, but operators will progressively reduce their offering between cities,” Borne said. “Everyone has to limit their non-essential travel.”

The metro will function at around 80% on Monday in Paris and seven out of 10 longer distance trains will run, according to the ministry. Rail links will gradually be reduced during the week. Orly 2 and some terminals at Roissy-CDG airport will be shut this week. The limits on travel will be a further blow to Air France-KLM, which has taken steps in recent days to bolster cash reserves and has asked the government to defer some tax payments.

The move to curb travel comes a day after the government closed restaurants, cafes and non-essential stores, a drastic step taken on Saturday by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Schools have also been closed for two weeks in the country that has registered more than 4,500 cases of coronavirus.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Andrew Reierson

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