A recent study highlights that the UK leads Europe in private jet flights to holiday destinations, a trend that is contributing significantly to carbon emissions.

The research, commissioned by Greenpeace and conducted by Germany’s T3 Transportation Think Tank, reveals that 12,702 private jet flights from the UK accounted for 10.8% of the total 117,965 private flights to popular European destinations last year.

Private jets were most commonly flown to Nice in France, Geneva in Switzerland, and Spanish cities like Palma de Mallorca and Malaga. While the convenience of private jets offers faster security checks and flexible schedules, they also produced around 67,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from the UK flights alone, excluding return journeys.

Greenpeace UK has called for the Government to ban these private jets, linking their excessive use to worsening climate conditions such as deadly floods and heatwaves. Georgia Whittaker, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace, criticized the “absurd” luxury enjoyed by the wealthy few while ordinary people bear the brunt of climate disasters. She urged the Government to introduce a wealth tax on the super-rich, suggesting that the funds generated could be used to reduce emissions and lower energy and transport costs for the public.

This call for action emphasizes the growing concern over the environmental impact of luxury travel and its role in exacerbating both climate change and social inequalities.