The international NGO Greenpeace published a report on Thursday 30 March in which it points out that the number of private jet flights in Europe has increased by 64% in 2022. These flights, Greenpeace argues, exceed the equivalent of the average annual CO2 emissions of 550,000 EU citizens.
Looking at the details, some 572,806 private jet flights were recorded in 2022. Nearly 55% of these were short or very short trips of less than 750 kilometres in length. In addition, for two of the three most popular routes – Paris-London and Paris-Geneva – there is a rail alternative that takes less than 3.5 hours and there are also several daily return trips. France, Germany and the UK take the top three places in terms of the number of private jet flights.
“This rise in private jet flights is a scandal, at a time when citizens are being asked to make efforts to limit their energy consumption”, commented Klara Maria Schenk, head of Greenpeace’s European ‘Mobility for All’ campaign.
“It’s time to bring private jets back into the mainstream of decarbonisation. We must put an end to these exemptions and this complacency that has allowed this explosion of private jet flights”, said the chair of the European Parliament Transport Committee Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)