FutureFlight On The Radar
UK Labour Party Considers Demand for Electric-only Private AIrcraft Flights
A report by UK environmental groups Fellow Travellers and Commonwealth called for a ban on private jets from 2025.

With the green agenda rising in the UK's 2019 general election campaign, the UK Labour Party has indicated it would consider a ban on fossil-fuel powered private aircraft flights from 2025. The November 4 statement by shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald was in response to a new report calling for electric-only private aircraft flights published by environmental and economic pressure groups Fellow Travellers and Commonwealth. 

The report, titled "jet, set, go" claims that a passenger in a private jet today emits seven times as much greenhouse gas as a business class passenger on an airline flight. The reported differential rises to 10 times compared with an economy class airline passenger and 150 times compared with a train passenger. According to the authors, there were 128,000 private jet flights between UK airports and the rest of Europe in 2018—representing 6 percent of total traffic—plus another 14,000 flights from the UK to points beyond Europe.