In the first nine months of 2022, around 16,147 private flights operated to Schiphol and Rotterdam airports, more private flights than in 2019, before the pandemic. In a study published on Thursday, environmental group Greenpeace condemned the climate impact of a sharp increase in the number of private jets from Dutch airports and argued for their ban.
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Frequent use of this luxury form of transportation causes greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 40,000 cars a year.
“It shocks us that in times of climate crisis, a certain group started flying less but more in the most polluting private jets,” said Dewi Sloch, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace Netherlands. “We have to stop this, so we have to ban private jets.”
Majorca, Ibiza and Cannes are popular destinations
A study by Dutch environmental think tank CE Delft showed that one in three private planes departing from Schiphol or The Hague-Rotterdam airport were used for journeys of less than 500 kilometres.
“Popular destinations include Paris and Antwerp, cities easily accessible by train,” Greenpeace added in a statement. “There are very popular flights to places like Mallorca, Ibiza and Cannes.”
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Greenpeace pointed out that climate targets set by the Dutch government did not include private aircraft and the maximum of 440,000 flights per year set for 2023 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. “This exemption for private jets shows what’s wrong with the airline industry,” said Dewey Slouch. “We want the airline industry to stop polluting and finally have climate targets. The first step is to cut back on short-haul flights and luxury private jets for the wealthy.
Business class passengers also take up more space on planes. According to the study, more passengers could fit on the plane if they had regular seats instead of business class.
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