New Airline Routes, Teacher Strikes & Undergrowth Clearance: News Digest

French has been named the world’s fourth most spoken language, a free webinar for UK residents planning a move to France is just days away, and Air France is preparing to launch a new London Gatwick to Paris route. Elsewhere this week, homeowners in some parts of France are being reminded of undergrowth clearance rules ahead of the warmer months, Americans living in France are approaching key US tax deadlines, and teachers’ unions are preparing for industrial action at the end of March. Here are the headlines from France this week.

French overtakes Arabic to become world’s fourth most spoken language

French is now the world’s fourth most spoken language, according to the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie’s 2026 report, with 396 million speakers across five continents, meaning it has moved ahead of standard Arabic to take fourth place behind English, Mandarin and Spanish. The figures are a reminder that French is not just the language of France, but a truly global language with growing weight in education, business and digital life. The same report notes that French is also the fourth most used language on the internet and is studied by almost 170 million learners worldwide, underlining its continued international reach and influence.

Last chance: Moving to France in 2026 free webinar

Last chance to register for FrenchEntrée’s upcoming webinar, Moving to France in 2026: Essential Information for UK Residents, taking place on Thursday March 26 at 4pm GMT. Aimed at UK residents planning a move to France this year, the session will offer practical guidance on the key questions to consider before relocating, from finances and property to visas, legal matters and healthcare, making it a useful one-stop overview for anyone hoping to make the process smoother and less daunting.

New Air France London – Paris route

Air France is launching a new twice-daily service between Paris Charles de Gaulle and London Gatwick on the 29th of March. The route will be operated by Airbus A220 aircraft and adds Gatwick to Air France’s existing London network alongside Heathrow and London City. Elsewhere on the 2026 schedule, new France links are also due to launch from London Stansted to Paris Charles de Gaulle, Manchester to Montpellier, Birmingham to Nice and, from summer, London to Toulon. Across the Atlantic, Paris Charles de Gaulle is also adding Las Vegas, while Nice is set to gain a new nonstop connection from Boston.

Undergrowth clearance rules

Property owners in fire-prone parts of France are again being reminded of the rules on débroussaillement, the legal obligation to clear undergrowth around buildings. The requirement can apply to properties located within 200 metres of woodland, scrub or moorland, and the clearance zone usually extends at least 50 metres from the building, sometimes beyond the boundary of the plot. Find out your obligations as a homeowner here.

US tax deadlines for Americans in France

Americans living in France are approaching two key US tax deadlines: the 15th of April remains the standard date for paying any federal tax due for the 2025 tax year, while those living abroad receive an automatic extension to the 15th of June to file their return. Many people will not actually owe US tax because they can use provisions such as the foreign earned income exclusion, which is $130,000 per qualifying person for tax year 2025, and the foreign tax credit, but they still generally need to file in order to claim those benefits. Anyone with non-US financial accounts totalling more than $10,000 at any point in the year may also need to file an FBAR, which is due on the 15th of April but is automatically extended to the 15th of October. Americans abroad who need more time to file their return can also request a further extension to the 15th of October by submitting Form 4868 by the 15th of June.

Teacher strikes planned

Industrial action is set to return to France at the end of the month, with several major teachers’ unions calling a nationwide strike on Tuesday the 31st of March as part of a wider week of action running from the 30th of March to the 3rd of April over education budget cuts. Wider rolling strike notices also remain in place across parts of the public sector, including a civil-service notice running until the 31st of March, allowing local stoppages to be called at short notice. On the transport side, the clearest current disruption linked to industrial action is on some TER services in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where train timetables may be adjusted because of social movements, while several upcoming interruptions on the Paris network are being presented as engineering works rather than strike action, including planned closures on Metro lines 13 and 14 later this week.