Private jet emissions in Europe have been found to more than double by 2022, exceeding the annual per capita carbon dioxide emissions of the 550,000 inhabitants of the European Union.

An analysis released Thursday by environmental group Greenpeace found that private jet flights in Europe rose 64% last year to a record 572,806. Greenpeace said more than half (55%) of private jet flights in Europe last year were ultra-short flights less than 750 kilometers (466 miles), noting that these are journeys that could be made by train or ship.

This comes at a time when Europe is suffering from severe winter drought and just after its driest summer in at least 500 years.

“The alarming increase in private jet flights is challenging all climate science that tells us we must cut CO2 emissions immediately to avert total disaster,” said Claria Maria Schenk, Greenpeace Campaign Transport Manager, Mobility for All. .

The analysis showed that the countries with the most private jet flights in Europe last year were the UK, France and Germany. The most popular private jet destinations in Europe in 2022 were Nice on the French Riviera, Paris and Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland.

Increasing demand

Greenpeace stressed that the study, carried out by the Dutch environmental consulting company CE Delft, is based on data provided by Cirium, an analytics firm. It assessed all private flights departing and arriving in European countries from 2020 to 2022 and disaggregated those trips by year, route and aircraft type.

Some smaller types of aircraft with less than three seats have been exempted as they are mainly used for recreation. The figures also exclude flights to and from the same airport, and flights to and from airports without an International Air Transport Association unique code.

Emissions from private aircraft in Europe have grown faster than commercial aviation in recent years.

Data from the non-governmental organization Transport & Environment shows that private jets pollute the environment 14 times more than commercial aircraft per passenger and 50 times more than trains.

This is because in one hour, one private jet can emit two metric tons of carbon dioxide. Meanwhile, the average person in the EU emits 8.2 metric tons of CO2 equivalent throughout the year.

Source: CNBC