"Absurd" European Championship mini-flight by the French causes bewilderment
France's Football National Team will save time and flies to Paderborn - from Düsseldorf. A BUND spokesperson criticized: "This is indeed unbelievable. This is one of the most absurd examples I have heard." A bus ride would hardly have lasted longer.
France's Football National Team caused surprise with a short flight from Düsseldorf to Paderborn after their EM Quarterfinals victory against Belgium. According to the "Cologne Stadt-Anzeiger", the French team had filed an application to bypass the regular night flight ban. The team's departure was therefore scheduled for Monday at 10:35 pm in Düsseldorf.
"This application was based on the decree of June 27 for the knockout phase and applies only to flight times," a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying. In this decree, the NRW Environmental Ministry had regulated exceptions to the night flight ban during the EM knockout phase for team flights. For example, Germany had benefited from this after their victory in Dortmund against Denmark, as they flew to Nuremberg to reach their quarters in Herzogenaurach.
However, in the case of the French flight to Paderborn, the question arises as to what the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) was criticizing. "This is indeed unbelievable. This is one of the most absurd examples I have heard," said BUND transport expert Werner Reh. "I assume that the team even lost time under the radar."
The charter flight lasted approximately 25 minutes according to flight recording. From Paderborn airport to the team quarters, there was still a bus ride of around 30 minutes. Added to this were the journeys to and from Düsseldorf airport and the usual regulations there such as boarding times and check-in. The bus ride from the stadium in Düsseldorf to the team quarters, which was 177 kilometers away, would have taken around two hours on the late Monday evening. "We are trapped in an ideology that a flight is always faster than travel by train or bus. But this is often not the case for domestic flights in Germany," said Reh.
Despite the French Football National Team's short charter flight from Düsseldorf to Paderborn for their European Football Championship 2024 preparations, there were concerns raised by the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND). BUND transport expert Werner Reh criticized, "This is indeed unbelievable. Using air travel for such a short distance within Europe during the Football Championship is one of the most absurd examples I have heard."
