STORY: A ban on short-haul domestic flights goes into force in France

France's Transport Minister Clément Beaune called the move "a world first"

The new rule prohibits flights between cities that are within 2.5 hours of each other by train

Flights from Paris to the nearby cities of Nantes, Bordeaux and Lyon have been discontinued

Some environmental activists say the ban does not go far enough

and should apply to all domestic flights with an equivalent train route under four hours