Emissions from private jets are soaring

A global analysis of private-jet use shows that the number of aircraft, trips and the distance planes covered have all soared over the past four years, exacerbating the sector’s carbon dioxide emissions. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of private flights rose to more than four million a year, increasing emissions by 46%. The study, which was published on 7 November in Communications Earth and Environment¹, found that private flights produced 15.6 million tonnes of CO₂ last year, and identified events that they were concentrated around, including the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last year.

This work “is so important in the light of global warming and the absolute inequalities that we have across the world,” says Milan Klöwer, who researches the impact of aviation on global warming at the University of Oxford, UK. “While private aviation is obviously a small share of commercial aviation, it really shows how disproportionately they’re just burning the planet.”

The cost of luxury

Researchers have explored the impacts of air travel on climate change. But few studies have focussed on the global scale and climate cost of private jets, which are one of the most energy-consuming ways to fly. “Per hour, a large private aircraft can emit more than an average person emits per year,” says study co-author Stefan Gössling, who studies transport behaviour and climate change at Linnaeus University in Sweden.

Gössling and his colleagues collected private aircraft logs from 2019–23, which provide real-time location information for all flights. Flight time data were then “associated with aircraft model-specific fuel use to determine emissions”, he says.

Their analysis showed that the number of private jets increased by 28.4% over the four years, to almost 26,000 jets in 2023. The total distance the jets flew also increased. And although total CO₂ emissions increased from 10.7 to 15.6 million tonnes, average emissions per kilometre decreased, which could be due to more efficient jet systems (see ‘The jet set’).

Nearly 50% of the flights were shorter than 500 kilometres; such distances, Klöwer says, could have been done by train or by car. And many journeys — well as emissions — were clustered around major world events. For example, 172 of the 595 private planes that flew to the 2023 World Economic Forum were also seen at the Cannes Film Festival that year. COP28 was linked to 644 private flights, releasing an estimated 4,800 tonnes of CO₂.

Worrying trend

Although the scale of emissions from private flights is small compared to other sources, the study argues that the rate at which they are increasing is concerning. “I have already heard many colleagues say that 15.6 million tonnes is nothing in global comparison, and that we can ignore the sector,” says Gössling. “I think we should see it the other way around. If individuals get to emit thousands of tons without consequences, why should anybody else reduce their emissions?”

A cleaner future for flight — aviation needs a radical redesign

Klöwer agrees that the global rise in private jet usage is “not sustainable,” adding that stricter regulations would help reduce the incentives around private flight. “Carbon is a cost, and this cost should be internalised,” says Gössling. “I think every country could put taxes on every private jet that lands or takes off,” Klöwer says, although he acknowledges that rules like this would be “politically very, very difficult”.

Klöwer is keen for future studies to explore non-CO₂ emissions from flying, such as methane or sulphur dioxide. He says that although calculating these emissions would be challenging, research on this could help to provide a clearer picture of how individual jets contribute to climate change. “You could really pin down people and say … ‘this is the amount of warming you are responsible personally for’.”