Image: EPA
Accordingly, 227 active private aircraft are reported in Austria. In the past four years, these have caused at least 407,000 tons of CO2 emissions, flew around 96 million kilometers and thus circled the earth 2,399 times, the NGO criticized in a broadcast.
According to the report, more than half of all climate-damaging private jet emissions are caused by the three charter companies Avcon Jet, Sparfell and GlobeAir. The Glock, Porsche and Red Bull groups are “the most prominent companies with their own private planes”.
“While the world is on fire, a small elite continues to jet around the world as if there were no tomorrow. A private jet ban is essential to put a clear end to this climate-damaging business across Europe,” says Jasmin Duregger, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria.
Greenpeace called on the Austrian government to “put a stop to these excessive luxury emissions and to work for a ban on private jets”. Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) should also put the issue on the agenda at the next EU transport summit in early June, Greenpeace appealed.
Industry is growing extremely
For the analysis, the Austrian private aircraft that were active at the beginning of the year and reported to the Austrian aviation authority Austro Control and their flight movements between 2019 and 2022 were examined. The report shows that the private aviation industry is growing strongly. “In 2022, climate-damaging emissions rose to a record level, so the number of private flights more than doubled from 2019 to 2022,” said the NGO. The corona pandemic gave the industry an additional boost.
Two-thirds of all private flights are therefore short-haul. “The route most frequently flown by Austrian private jets is Paris – Geneva – a route that can be reached by train in just 3.5 hours,” criticized Greenpeace.
The basis of the Greenpeace analysis was the database of the crowdsourcing platform Opensky Networks, which was linked to the data from the Austrian aviation authority.
Source: Nachrichten
