As global warming worsens year by year, airplane use has become a cornerstone of contemporary environmental discourse. I personally believe that flying for distances shorter than 1000 kilometers must be banned, and for long journeys, the prices should be increased to encourage people to take other means of transport.
Since the introduction of air travel, it was considered by many to be one of the best inventions of mankind, and probably the best means of travel, because of its higher speed, comfort, and aesthetics compared to trains, for instance. However, all these came with very high prices that nature has to pay; the carbon dioxide emissions of airliners are enough to make the whole planet warmer by 2 degrees in a decade, not to mention the cargo planes or private jets, which have seen a surge in demand since 2012. The immediate effects of air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and global warming can already be spotted in natural habitats like the North Pole or tropical forests, where various species face extinction danger as their homes turn uninhabitable.
On the other hand, no matter how strong the environmental and ecological arguments in favour of air travel reduction are, as long as there are no worldwide regulations, the decision is up to each individual not to use airplanes when they have other eco-friendly choices. In this sense, people often make all sorts of excuses, “what if there is an emergency”, “time is money”, or “I travel a lot, that’s my job, I have no other choices”. Admittedly, some of these might actually be the case, but we already have the solution. For example, in France, there is this super-fast train called TGV, which can easily replace planes in most of the mentioned cases. Although it’s more expensive than other trains for the moment, in the long run, it’s way more budget-friendly than airplanes.
In conclusion, I couldn’t think of a single real barrier to replacing air travel with more sustainable means of transport with today’s modern technologies in hand, and given the harm already done to nature by planes, it seems relatively urgent to take necessary actions.