Environmental organization Greenpeace is decrying the climate impact of a massive increase in private jet flights from Dutch airports, calling for their ban.

During the first nine months of 2022, there were 16,147 private jet flights to and from Schiphol and Rotterdam airports, in other words, more than in all of 2019, before the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic, he stressed in a study cited by Greenpeace.

The increasing use of this luxury mode of transport results in greenhouse gas emissions equal to those of almost 40,000 cars a year.

“We were shocked because during the climate crisis a certain group of people started flying not less, but more in private jets, which are more polluting,” commented Davi Zloch, climate and energy specialist from Greenpeace Netherlands.

“This must stop, we are calling for a ban on private jet flights,” he added, according to an NGO press release.

A study by the environmental research center CE Delft also found that one in three private flights departing from Schiphol or The Hague-Rotterdam airport are less than 500 kilometers away.

“Popular destinations include Paris and even Antwerp, cities that are very easy to reach by train,” Greenpeace notes in its announcement.

“The most popular flights are to destinations such as Mallorca, Ibiza and Cannes,” the organization added.

Greenpeace notes that private flights were not included in the climate targets set by the Dutch government and are not included in the 440,000 flight limit set by Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

“This private jet exemption shows exactly what is wrong with the aviation industry,” Ms Zloch added. “We want the aviation industry to stop polluting the environment and finally set climate targets.”

“The first step is to end short-haul flights and private luxury jets for the wealthy,” Ms Zloh said.

She noted that passengers traveling in business class take up a lot of space on planes, they can be replaced with regular seats to fit many more people on the plane.

Source: RES – OIE