Private jet carbon emission up by 46%, flyers emit 500x more than others: Study

Carbon emissions from private airplanes could have increased by 46 per cent between 2019 and 2023, with regular private jet flyers possibly emitting 500 times more in a year than people using commercial flights, according to a study.

Researchers from Sweden’s Linnaeus University also found that significant peaks in emissions are seen around specific international events, such as COP28 and 2022 FIFA World Cup, as a big volume of private jets are operated.

Those regularly flying in private jets could be contributing about 500 times more carbon dioxide—a major greenhouse gas—in a year than an average individual, the study said.

Six countries accounted for more than 80 per cent of private aircrafts around the world—the US where nearly 70 per cent of all private aircrafts are registered, followed by Brazil (3.5 per cent), Canada (2.9 per cent), Germany (2.4 per cent), Mexico (two per cent) and the UK (two per cent), according to the study published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

Cutting down greenhouse gas emissions is considered critical for limiting global warming to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, as outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Private aviation is known to be highly energy-intensive, emitting significantly more carbon dioxide per traveller, compared to commercial flights.

However, only 0.003 per cent of the world’s adults could be flying in private jets, according to the study’s authors.

For the study, the researchers used flight tracker data of over 18.6 million private flights that operated between 2019 and 2023, which they said represented the vast majority of private aviation.

Carbon dioxide emitted by each flight was calculated using data of fuel consumed—as advertised for the aircraft model—and flight duration and route.

The authors found that overall, the private flights produced 15.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 -- an average of about 3.6 tonnes emissions per flight.

“In total numbers, private aviation numbers grew by 28.4 per cent, distances flown by 53.5 per cent, and emissions by 46 per cent (for the period 2019-2023),” the authors wrote.

Major international events, attracting visitors from the world over, were found to be related with a heavy volume of private flights.

While COP28 involved 644 private flights—producing 4,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the FIFA World Cup of 2022 was associated with 1,846 private aircrafts, estimated to have produced 14,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the researchers said.

Further, the highest emitting individuals each produced 2,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2023, a result which the researchers based on the flight tracker data of their plane’s unique tail numbers.

This was almost 500 times more than the average amount of emissions produced per person in 2020, the authors said.

“Emissions increased by 46 per cent between 2019-2023, with industry expectations of continued strong growth. Regulation is needed to address the sector’s growing climate impact,” they wrote.