Private jets are increasingly replacing car trips—for the ultra-wealthy

Private jet use is soaring, and the biggest contributors to private jets’ emissions are the ultra-wealthy.

About half of the private flights taken between 2019 and 2023 were short—some under 100 miles—and could have been otherwise drivable trips, according to a new study in Communications Earth & Environment. 

Although only about 0.003 percent of the world’s population use private aviation, it is highly energy-intensive, emitting significantly more carbon per passenger than commercial flights. Celebrities in particular have faced growing criticism for their private aircraft use. 

Some private aircraft models might emit more carbon per hour than an average person emits in a year. As a result, those who regularly fly private can produce almost 500 times more carbon in a year compared to the average person  worldwide, according to the new study. 

This research was the first to pinpoint global carbon emissions from the private aviation industry. Here’s what else we’ve learned.

Flying private creates an enormous carbon footprint

The researchers analyzed flight tracking data for over 18.7 million private flights flown by almost 26,000 private aircrafts between 2019 and 2023, and calculated their emissions based on flight time, trajectory, and fuel consumption of each aircraft type. 

The results showed private aviation overall contributed approximately 15.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023, about 3.6 metric tons per flight on average. This equates to about 1.8 percent of the total carbon emissions produced by commercial aviation in 2023.

“Private aviation has much lower emissions in total than commercial aviation,” Lynnette Dray, climate scientist at University College London who was not involved in the new study, said in an email. “However, the emissions per passenger are much higher, and private aviation emissions are growing faster than commercial aviation emissions.”

The study only assessed direct emissions from fuel use in flight, so the carbon footprint of private aviation could actually be larger, considering the time aircrafts spend taxiing, or other vehicles like helicopters used to reach a final destination from a private aircraft. Aviation also produces other environmental impacts in addition to carbon, according to Dray: planes emit nitrogen oxides, and cause particulate and noise pollution where they take off and land.

(Forget your carbon footprint. Your climate shadow is what really matters.)

Some flights could have been road trips

Many of the flights analyzed were over short distances that could be driven. The study authors think private aircraft owners might choose to fly for convenience or to save time. 

Almost half of all flights (47.4 percent) were shorter than 310 miles. According to the findings, 18.9 percent of flights were for distances below 124 miles, and many were empty flights, sent to deliver or pick up an individual.

Very short flights, below 31 miles, make up 4.7 percent of private flights analyzed in the study.

Big events cause big spikes in private jet travel

Major events from like the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona, the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in France, the Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar were linked to significant emissions peaks from private aviation.

Flight pattern analysis showed the 2022 FIFA World cup drew the most private flights of the events studied, with 1,846 private flights linked to the event, which produced 14,700 metric tons of carbon. COP 28, a conference focused on climate action, drew 291 private flights producing 3,800 metric tons of carbon.

The researchers also found a seasonal trend peaking in summer, and concentrated on weekends, to locations such as Ibiza; Spain; and Nice, France, indicating private aviation used for leisure travel. 

The number of private flights is growing 

Overall private aircraft emissions have increased over the past few years, with a 46 percent increase in carbon emissions between 2019 and 2023, according to the study. Part of this growth could be connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, says Stefan Gössling, geographer at Linnaeus University in Sweden and study author. 

Since commercial aviation was not available early in the COVID-19 pandemic, those who had private aviation available to them likely used it as an alternative. 

There has also been a shift away from flying business and first class on commercial flights in recent years, says Dray, and a shift instead toward private jets, which could be due to people trying to avoid contagion risk during the pandemic.

Gössling says the pandemic also made some of the ultra-wealthy even wealthier. More money accumulating within a small already-wealthy group could have increased access to and interest in private aviation, says Gössling.

Even if the COVID-19 pandemic gave a boost to private aviation, growth is projected to continue over the next few decades. 

To limit climate change, private flights need scrutiny

The private aviation industry needs better regulation, according to the researchers.

The majority of private aircrafts are based in the U.S., where about four percent of the world population is concentrated but about 68.7 percent of all private aircrafts are registered, and most of the private air traffic analyzed in the study occurred within the U.S.

“If we don’t start reducing emissions at the top, where individuals emit much, much more than the average human being, then there is no incentive for anyone to reduce emissions,” says Gössling.

And the world’s wealthiest groups are those who contribute most to emissions that worsen climate change. On average, 50 of the world’s richest billionaires took 184 flights in a single year, producing as much carbon as the average person would in 300 years.

“The most important implication of this study is probably that it gives us a chance to charge the wealthy for the damage they are causing,” says Gössling, “because we can put a price tag on emissions.”