Around 10% of departing flights from the UK are private…
One in ten departures from UK airports are now private jets, analysis of official data after the pandemic, by the climate charity Possible, has found. In the 10 years before Covid, private jets accounted for about 7.5% of all UK departures. That rose to over 20% at times during the pandemic, and it is now about 10%. On average the private planes carry 3 passengers. The emissions per passenger can be ten times those of the same trip in a commercial plane. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions from UK aviation, the number of private jet flights needs to be cut. Analysis of Air Passenger Duty (APD) data showed that about 20% of the smallest private jets paid no APD. A bit over 50% paid the same APD as premium economy passengers and around 25% paid the highest rate. Rather than largely being for business trips, most are now for leisure. The tax on these high carbon planes should be raised. Due to the tax on petrol and diesel, someone driving from London to Edinburgh could pay three times more tax than if they were flying by private jet. Currently private jets attract no VAT, no fuel duty and often only a low rate of APD. .Tweet 1 in 10 flights taking off from UK are private jets By Adam Vaughan, Environment Editor (The Times) Monday July 17 2023 Business or pleasure? In winter more than a quarter of private flights are to skiing hotspots such as Innsbruck in Austria One in ten departures from UK airports are now private jets, analysis of official data after the pandemic has found. In the decade before Covid-19 hit, private jets accounted for about 7.5 per cent of all UK departures. That soared to more than 20 per cent at moments during the pandemic as scheduled flights were grounded. It has since settled down above its pre-pandemic baseline, at around 10 per cent, a report by the climate charity Possible found. The growth in private flights poses a challenge to Britain’s 2050 net zero goal, with the planes carrying an average of three passengers or less. A recent government-commissioned report said almost all of the emissions savings needed to hit the target could be achieved by halving private jet flights. Polling for Possible, undertaken by Survation, found that 74 per cent of people agreed that private jets should be subject to higher taxes than commercial flights, to reflect their higher emissions. Just 15 per cent disagreed, with the rest either neutral or unsure. However, analysis of data from the Treasury and Eurocontrol, the international air safety organisation, showed that passengers on just over one in five private jets and their propeller-driven equivalents paid no air passenger duty (APD) because of how light their aircraft were. Slightly more than half faced the same APD as premium economy passengers and around a quarter paid the highest rate. Despite the image of private jets as primarily a tool for business people, the destinations of flights suggest otherwise, Possible said. Farnborough, which bills itself as “the largest and the most pre-eminent business aviation airport in the UK”, sees more than 40 per cent of summer flights headed for Mediterranean destinations including the Balearics. In winter, more than a quarter are destined for alpine airports including Geneva. Green campaigners said the “explosive growth” in private jet use meant the government should increase taxation on them. At present, someone driving from London to Edinburgh would pay three times more tax than if they were flying by private jet. Robert Palmer, executive director of advocacy group Tax Justice UK, said: “It’s a big problem that private jet users pay such low levels of tax, esp
