Private jet users should be hit by a 'super tax' to fund public transport and discourage the hugely polluting means of getting about, a charity has argued.
Campaign for Better Transport is calling for a new ‘super’ rate of Air Passenger Duty to apply to private jet passengers and for private flights to lose their VAT free status amid a boom in the industry.
Private jets are between five and 14 times more polluting than commercial flights and 50 times more polluting than trains.
By carrying fewer passengers onboard than a commercial jet, while using a large amount of fuel to get into the air, the luxury form of transport is far more damaging per-flier for the environment.
The UK is responsible for 19% of Europe’s carbon emissions from private jets – more than any other European country.
Currently, private jet passengers are charged the same rate of air passenger duty as business or first-class passengers.
A higher rate is applied to aircraft of 20 tonnes or more with fewer than 19 passengers onboard.
Campaign for Better Transport is calling for a new ‘super’ rate of the tax which would be set at ten times the current higher rate for domestic and European trips.
It would apply to all private jet passengers, regardless of the size or capacity of the aircraft or distance travelled.
The charity claims it would raise around £1.4 billion each year, which is the equivalent of the annual investment by the Scottish Government in its rail network.
The transport charity is also calling for VAT to be applied each time a private jet lands or takes off, regardless of size or distance travelled, which would further raise between £79 million and £623 million.
Norman Baker, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Private jets are hugely damaging to the environment and are the preserve of the super-rich.
"We think it’s about time that these individuals started paying for the damage their flights cause and the proceeds used to help improve public transport for communities up and down the country.”
Private jets are twice as likely to be used for short trips of less than 300 miles compared to flights in commercial aviation.
In 2021, there were 135,505 private aircraft movements across the EU.
With the pressure on to swiftly cut global-heating driving emissions in order to dampen the current climate crisis, private jets may be seen as low hanging fruit.
They are primarily used by the very wealthy for leisure purposes.
In recent years celebrities across the world have been happy to glamorise the gas guzzling mode of transport by posting photos of themselves inside private jets, seemingly unaware of the devastating impact they have on the planet.
Earlier this year Kylie Jenner faced a torrent of criticism for taking her jet on a 17 minute journey, according to an automated Twitter account that tracks celebrity flights.
Previously the socialite posted a picture of herself and rapper Travis Scott on the runway of an airport between two private jets with the caption “you wanna take mine or yours?”
Jenner's 17 minute flight will have produced one tonne of CO2, which is a quarter of the annual emissions of an average person globally.
