Three Spanish airports are among the five that host the most private jet flights in Europe, a private means of transport associated with business travelbut through a study it is highlighted that a large percentage of them do not have this objective in addition to analyzing their environmental impact.
More specifically, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Malaga are among the five European airports with the most private flights, what makes Spain the second largest European holiday destination most popular for jets according to work conducted by think tank T3 Transportation and analyzes private jet usage throughout 2023, focusing on 45 airports in major vacation destinations.
The report Luxury tourism and its impacts. An analysis of private jet flights to European holiday destinationscarried out in collaboration with Greenpeace, compares the seasonality of private jets with the seasonality of conventional tourism.
More tourist flights
According to its authors, it is shown that in 2023 both sectors had a seasonal trend, a report collected by the Greenpeace organization to recall that “private jets emit 10 times more CO₂ per passenger-kilometer than a typical commercial plane “.
The study shows that these trips are used for leisure rather than business purposes. Concretely, in 41 of the 45 airports analyzed The arrival of private jets increased on average by 106% during the summer season.
According to the data collected, throughout the year 2023 More than 117,000 flights were recorded to 45 luxury destinationswhich generated around 520,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
Spanish airports with the most flights
Nice, Geneva and Palma de Mallorca was the top three destinations for private jet traffic, followed by Ibiza and Malaga.. This places Spain as the second most popular European holiday destination for private jets, with three cities among the five that receive the most flights of this type in summer.
These are some of the data that emerge from a new analysis published by Greenpeace which reveals a sharp increase in private jet flights to vacation destinations in Europe.
10,000 euros per trip
According to the T3 analysis, “an average private jet flight to one of our selected holiday destinations emits 4.46 tonnes of CO₂. This equivalent to driving a private car for three yearsassuming an average annual mileage in Europe of 12,540 km and a fuel consumption of 5 liters of gasoline per 100 km.
From T3 they emphasize that “passengers pay a lot of money for a lot of luxury. Most importantly, they can choose the airport (including many smaller regional airfields) and departure time. Check-in will be quick and convenient, and they may want to fly the trip for themselves. The price can be around 10,000 euros for a one-way ticket.. Second, this luxury travel comes at the cost of (even) higher carbon emissions. ».
The think tank points out that there is, among other instruments, a national road tax for cars and emissions standards for the vehicle fleet. The price of gasoline generally includes energy and/or carbon taxes, as well as value added tax (VAT). SO, the car is well regulated, although we can argue that the regulations should be stricter».
No more taxes on private jets
But This is not the case for commercial aviation, according to the book, “countries are called upon to fight the climate crisis, but tax schemes promote carbon emissions from aircraft“.
From the introduction to the profession, they ask themselves “how many of the trips mentioned above could a rich person take per year?” For its promoters, it is clarified that “it is probably not a question of money. Or even if it did, then some taxes should be paid, such as oil tax, VAT or any other energy tax for kerosene refueling for international flights.
Private aircraft operators with total CO₂ emissions below 1,000 tonnes per year, including are exempt from the European emissions trading system. In short, from T3 it is stated that “there are 224 free flights for your own private jet, so to speak, if we consider 4.46 tonnes of CO₂ per flight”.
250% increase
During the year 2023, arrivals of these aircraft increased by 250% in July compared to January, indicating that most of them were taken for leisure purposes and not for business trips.
The rest of the 9 Spanish airports that appear in the study are Barcelona (ranked 9), Minorca (28), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (38), Lanzarote (43) and the two airports of Tenerife (North and South) (respectively 38 and 45). Among all there are a total of 27,122 private jets who landed at Spanish airports in 2023, or 23% of all those analyzed.
This makes Spain the The second most popular European vacation destination for private jetss. Only France recorded a slightly higher number of arrivals during 2023 (27,767 arrivals).
Flights in the Mediterranean
“It is bad news that Spanish airports are at the top of this polluting ranking. We see that these flights peak at Mediterranean airports during the summer, which means We are faced with a form of unsustainable tourism that only benefits a few people to the detriment of the majority of society. “who suffers the consequences of this waste,” said Cristina Arjona, head of the Greenpeace Mobility campaign.
“These private flights account for a disproportionate share of aviation emissions, accelerating the climate emergency. This luxury not only worsens environmental damage, but we all pay the price and widen inequalities. The rich who fly on their jets must be held responsible for the damage caused to society“.
Greenpeace calls for banning private jets, taxing kerosene and imposing a tax on wealthy people in Europe and allocate money for public transport, housing and healthy eating.
International origin
The Spanish airports where the highest number of private jets have landed are Palma de Mallorca (7,502), Ibiza (6,504) and Málaga (6,314), followed by Barcelona (4,826). Around the 74% of these planes came from other countrieswhile around 26% were domestic flights.
It is observed that in various destinations, a significant percentage of annual CO₂ emissions focuses on the holiday season. During this period, more than 40% of all CO₂ emissions from private jet flights are produced.
This means that, for example, at Ibiza airport 68% of CO₂ emissions from private jets were generated during just four summer months“which shows that these trips are carried out primarily for leisure purposes and not for business as the people who use them usually claim,” concludes Greenpeace.
Flights from Nice
The study reveals that the busiest international route for private jets to a Spanish holiday destination was the one between Good (France) and Ibiza, with a total of 317 flights.
They followed the roads between Nice and Palma de Mallorcawith 260 flights, and between Paris and Ibizawith 248 flights. In turn, most international flights in private jets to Spain have left France (3,563 takeoffs), followed by the United Kingdom (3,500 flights) and Germany (2,698 flights).
The report also reveals that there are a large number of very short-haul flights, highlighting the connection between Ibiza and Mallorcawith a total of 692 flights (363 from Palma to Ibiza and 329 from Ibiza to Palma).
134,000 tonnes of CO₂
In total, these 27,122 private jet flights to holiday destinations in Spain generated around 134,000 tonnes of CO₂, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of around 89,300 cars equipped with a combustion engine. It is important to note that these figures only include the emissions generated by outbound flightsnot counting return flights.
On the other hand, the five Spanish airports from which the most private jets departed were the airport Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas (1,922 departures), the airport Ibiza (1894), the airport of Palma de Mallorca (1,693), the airport of Barcelona-El Prat (1,457) and the airport Malaga (1.346).
Luxury tour operators
The research focuses on destinations heavily promoted by luxury tour operators and private jet companies. Most private jet flights took place in the Mediterranean during the summer and moved to the Alpine region during the colder months.
According to the environmental organization, “a single average private jet flight to these destinations emits almost as much carbon as the annual energy-related emissions of an average European citizen (4.46 compared to 5.37 tonnes of CO₂), which underlines the extent to which the super rich “They contribute disproportionately to the climate crisis.”
Jet ban
For all this, Greenpeace asks “the immediate ban on private jetsa luxury that only serves a privileged few and endangers vulnerable communities and kerosene starts paying taxes.
Furthermore, they put into the debate that, if they cannot be prohibited, at least measures such as “a tax on large fortunes in Europe could not only advance climate justice, but also provide financing for public goods such as quality and affordable housinghealthy eating and public transportation. Prioritizing the common good over tax cuts and skimming by the rich is essential for a fairer and more sustainable future.
