INQUIRER.net stock images Paris, France — The carbon footprint from private jet travel grew 46 percent between 2019 and 2023 and will keep rising unless the ultra-luxury industry is regulated, according to new research published Thursday. Carbon dioxide emissions from private aviation peaked over the European summer and around major global events like the World Cup, Cannes Film Festival and UN climate summits, the study found.
The transport of choice for the rich and famous, private jets are the most energy-intense form of flying and the industry has long been a target of climate protesters. READ: Rich Filipinos want newer, bigger private jets Private aviation was responsible for 15.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2023, wrote the study’s authors from Swedish, Danish and German universities.
This represented less than two percent of commercial aviation’s overall carbon emissions. But private jets cater to just 256,000 people — about 0.003 percent of the world’s adult population — meaning significantly higher emissions per passenger than commercial travel.
Researchers assessed flight tracker data from roughly 18.7 million individual charters flown between 2019 and 2023 representing the vast majority of global private aviation. They found roughly half these trips were less than 500 kilometers (310 miles) and many were empty, en route to pickup or undertaking a delivery.
They also noted that private jets on very short trips “in many instances appear to replace .