A distance no one chose
Paris and Fort-de-France are separated by almost 7,000 kilometres. Pointe-à-Pitre is at a comparable distance. For travel between the Antilles and mainland France, flying is not simply one convenience among others.
An Antillean living in Paris, Lyon or Bordeaux is not always buying a tourist trip when travelling to Fort-de-France or Pointe-à-Pitre. They may be visiting parents, attending a funeral, spending the festive season with family, accompanying a sick relative or simply maintaining a connection with the territory where they grew up.
Travelling at the wrong time is expensive
The average fare tells only part of the story. Prices vary sharply according to the period. Someone able to travel in September and buy a ticket well in advance is not in the same position as a family obliged to travel during school holidays. Families cannot always move Christmas to September.
Territorial continuity has a price
France has long used the concept of territorial continuity in an attempt to reduce the consequences of the geographical remoteness of its overseas territories. Mobility support schemes exist. The William report proposes revising them and acting on several components of ticket prices. The debate is therefore about how the cost of distance should be shared.
Living elsewhere without ceasing to belong there
The issue goes beyond transport. A population that settles permanently outside its territory does not necessarily break with it. Family ties, property, obligations, habits, celebrations, deaths and sometimes the prospect of a permanent return continue to organise part of people’s lives.
When ticket prices rise sharply, visits may become less frequent. Geographical distance eventually creates family distance. This Antillean reality also speaks to other diasporas, even though their legal situations should not be confused.
How much should it cost to go home?
The expression itself is difficult. Where is ‘home’ when someone has lived in Paris for twenty years while their parents are in Martinique? When their children were born in mainland France but much of the family lives in Guadeloupe?
For a tourist, an expensive ticket may encourage another destination. For someone going home to see family, there is no substitute destination.
An airline ticket connects families before it connects two airports. When its price determines how many times a year a child can see their parents, the issue is no longer merely one of air transport.
