The rich are destroying the planet: Half of aviation emissions are caused by just one percent of the world's population

Last year, 2,528 private flights departed from Slovak airports, which produced 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide. This figure is equal to the average annual emissions of 6,666 cars. This follows from new research available to the Greenpeace organization. At the same time, in the context of the climate crisis and the recent report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the organization calls for a global ban on private aircraft flights. While the world's scientists are thinking about how to adequately explain to the public that it is necessary to keep the global warming of the planet to 1.5 °C, the owners of private planes in Europe are causing enormous emissions of carbon dioxide. In the last year alone, emissions produced by private aircraft in Europe have increased by 64 %. Slovakia is no exception. Last year, the number of private flights departing from Slovakia grew from 1114 (2021) to 2528, which is an increase of 127 %. The most frequent route of private flights in 2022 was the route Bratislava - Prague, which can be completed in four and a half hours by train. According to the director of Greenpeace Slovakia, Katarína Juríková, research shows how a small group of people is pushing the rest of the world closer to climate catastrophe: "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from last week clearly said that if we want to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we must reduce emissions by 2030 by almost half. The alarming increase in the number of private jet flights is completely at odds with the direction we need to take in reducing emissions. We need to reduce emissions from transport, and we need to start with private flights, which for the vast majority of people do not represent anything positive." Government or military flights according to European Commercial Aviation Association they made up only about 1.1 % of all flights last year. The busiest airport for private aircraft flights in Slovakia in 2022 was Bratislava, followed by Košice and Poprad-Tatry airport. The shortest route with 10 or more flights per year was between Bratislava and Vienna - this is a route on which the train runs twice an hour.

Source: SITA/zoznam.sk