Greenpeace: These Are the Biggest Climate Offenders in Air Travel
A new Greenpeace analysis shows that flights in first class on average cause five times and in business class about four times as many greenhouse gas emissions as a flight in economy class. Although passengers in first and business class make up only about 14 percent of all travelers on long-haul flights, they cause more than a third of the environmentally harmful emissions of the entire flight. Greenpeace is therefore calling on Transport Minister Peter Hanke to significantly increase taxes on particularly climate-damaging luxury flights.
First Class and Business Class as Climate Offenders
Jasmin Duregger, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria: “A single business class flight from Vienna to New York causes about as many greenhouse gas emissions as an average person in an entire year. Luxury flights fuel the climate crisis and at the same time benefit from tax perks, such as the tax exemption on kerosene. Transport Minister Peter Hanke must put an end to this climate injustice and introduce a fair flight tax for luxury flights.”
Higher Taxation as a Solution?
The analysis by T3 Transportation on behalf of Greenpeace calculated that at least 19 million tickets for first and business class as well as premium economy on long-haul flights from Europe were sold last year. In the luxury flight classes of first and business class, there are a maximum of 4 seats per row, while in economy class there are up to 10 seats per row. The fewer people share a flight, the higher the emissions per person. This structural difference makes luxury flights a particularly climate-damaging means of transport. Despite this massive climate burden, only a few countries like France and the United Kingdom have begun to additionally tax first and business class tickets.
Greenpeace is calling for higher taxation of flights in luxury categories. An annual flight tax of 220 euros per business class, 340 euros per first class, and 75 euros per premium economy ticket in Europe could generate at least 3.3 billion euros in additional government revenue - without additional costs for the vast majority of people.
(APA/Red)
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