A new international report looks at how short-haul flights can be replaced by rail connections and shows how CO2 can be reduced. The climate issue is generally very sensitive and there are a wide variety of views. For this reason, Aviation Direct is bringing together the information from Greenpeace and Vienna Airport AG in two separate articles that will appear at the same time. In order to offer readers the greatest possible choice, the articles were also edited by different editors from the Aviation Direct team. The viewpoint of Vienna Airport AG can be read at this link. The environmental organization Greenpeace has today published a new report that examines how many short-haul flights in Europe can be replaced by trains. The surprising result: for around 30 percent of all short-haul flights, there are train connections under six hours, and for 18 percent, there are direct night train connections. The data for Austria is even more encouraging: in this country, there are direct night train connections for 53 percent of all top 30 short-haul flights within the EU - an absolute top figure in Europe. Including some fast day trains and night trains with one change, there is a good rail alternative for 80 percent of all Austrian short-haul flights. "Together with the direct night trains, it would already be possible to comfortably switch to the train for almost half of all short-haul flights in Europe," says Greenpeace transport spokesman Herwig Schuster. "We are therefore calling for these flights to be banned." However, in order to completely phase out short-haul flights in Europe, Greenpeace is also calling for improvements to rail. "The rail must be made significantly cheaper than the plane," says Schuster, "and, especially in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the trains must be significantly faster and more frequent.