MEP Schilling calls for private jet ban: 'If everyone is asked to cut back, start with the super-rich' 

In response to soaring energy prices, Green MEP Lena Schilling and 20 Green MEPs are calling for an temporary EU-wide grounding of private jets in a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas (pictured). 

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered the sharpest rise in crude oil prices since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Across Europe, fuel costs are rising sharply, with a single tank of diesel now costing around €30 more. 

“While millions of people are wondering how they will afford their commute, private jets continue to take off as if nothing is happening. This shows exactly who is expected to pay for this crisis and who is not,” Lena Schilling comments. 

At the same time, commercial aviation is already under pressure, with hundreds of flight cancellations expected during the summer. Yet one of the most carbon-intensive and socially unequal forms of transport, private jets, remains entirely unregulated. Private jets produce up to 20 to 30 times more emissions per passenger than economy class flights, which themselves are far more polluting than rail, especially when non CO2 effects are taken into account. In 2022, 55% of private jet flights in Europe covered distances of less than 750 km and could have been replaced by train. The average private jet owner has a net worth of around €1.3 billion. 

“In this crisis, everyone is being asked to cut back. But if the burden falls only on ordinary people, that is not solidarity, it is plain injustice. If we are serious about saving energy, we must start where consumption is most extreme, with the super-rich and their private jets,” says Schilling. 

The Green MEPs call for: 

·         A temporary EU-wide ban on private jet flights for non-essential travel  

·         Restrictions on private jet arrivals and refuelling from non-EU countries  

·         Clear limits restricting use to medical, humanitarian, and critical governmental purposes  

They also demand that these measures be included in the Commission’s upcoming catalogue of energy-saving actions to be presented at the informal meeting of EU Energy Ministers on 13 May in Cyprus. 

“If the Commission is serious about saving energy, it must target all segments of society,” Schilling adds, “This crisis is a stress test for fairness. If we ask the many to pay while letting the richest continue as before, we lose the support of those who are asked to carry this transition.” 

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