The European business aviation industry has been caught in the crosshairs of a burgeoning, vocal, and increasingly influential environmental community that regards the use of private aircraft as a polluting luxury that the planet can ill afford to accommodate.<\/p>\n
Of course, business aviation is no stranger to such opprobrium having faced a barrage of bruising assaults over the years from activists, adversarial politicians, and their erstwhile media cheerleaders seeking to negatively\u2014and incorrectly\u2014portray business aircraft as toys for the super-rich and symbols of extravagance and excess.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have become accustomed to negative publicity and have always challenged our critics head-on by presenting clear facts about the industry and the invaluable role it plays,\u201d said Robert Baltus, chief operations officer for the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA).<\/p>\n
He admitted, however, that the industry is on particularly high alert today and its detractors are as tenacious as ever. \u201cThere are a number of vocal environmentalists that have had business aircraft in their sights for some time and like to put our industry in the corner where it doesn\u2019t belong,\u201d Baltus conceded.<\/p>\n
Crucially, their voices are amplified in the current climate, \u201cwhere the aviation sector\u2019s carbon footprint is being scrutinized like never before,\u201d and the pandemic-related uptick in business jet travel has thrown the issue into sharper relief, he noted.<\/p>\n
Hostility towards business aviation in Europe has manifested in a cacophony of\u00a0protests\u00a0by activist groups at airports and private aircraft terminals throughout the continent.\u00a0These included the coordinated demonstrations and \u201csit-ins\u201d last November to coincide with the United Nations climate convention being held in Egypt.<\/p>\n
Groups including Extinction Rebellion and Scientist Rebellion hit out at the scores of UN delegates who traveled to the COP27 conference by business jet and demanded a complete ban on their use, along\u00a0with high taxes on airline frequent flyers. Protests included blockading the entrances to Farnborough Airport and the Harrods Aviation FBO at London Luton airport in the UK.<\/p>\n
Similar protests were also staged at Milan Linate airport in Italy, while around 500 Dutch members of Greenpeace rode bicycles into the business aviation enclave at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and blockaded aircraft.<\/p>\n
Calls to curb private aircraft use have been mounting since\u00a0August last year\u00a0when France\u2019s transport minister Clement Beaune called for tougher regulation of the industry. President Emmanuel Macron and the country\u2019s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne subsequently requested concrete proposals for measures that could include bans on some flights and punitive taxes.<\/p>\n
Other European countries including Belgium and the Netherlands are also mulling curbs on aircraft usage, said EBAA, while the UK government is facing calls to impose a 10-fold increase in the air passenger duty for private charter flights.<\/p>\n
Branding business jets as \u201chugely damaging to the environment and the preservation of the super-rich,\u201d environmental transport group the Campaign for Better Transport wants business aviation to lose its current exemption from the country\u2019s 20 percent value-added tax (VAT) and for this levy to be imposed on every aircraft movement regardless of flight duration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis assault on business aviation is creeping into several countries in Europe and it\u2019s not going to go away,\u201d said EBAA secretary general Athar Husain Khan. \u201cThe industry is in this for the long run\u2014a marathon rather than a 100-meter sprint, so to speak,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Brussels-based trade association suggests the unwelcome spotlight on business aviation today has largely been triggered by the exponential rise in private aircraft travel as a result of the pandemic. A record-breaking 800,000 aircraft movements were conducted across Europe in 2022, EBAA claimed\u2014100,000 more than the previous \u201cnormal\u201d years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe perception is that business aircraft are flown by rich people for frivolous journeys, but in reality, most are deployed on medical, humanitarian, urgent cargo, head-of-state, and business-related missions,\u201d said EBAA\u2019s Baltus.<\/p>\n
Business aviation leaders will continue to engage with policymakers at local, national, and the European level, he continued, to educate and present the case for business aviation in Europe. Baltus pointed to the industry\u2019s \u20ac100 billion ($95 billion) in economic output and generation of around 450,000 jobs, directly and indirectly.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Baltus said it is critical the business aviation industry reinforces the message that of good and responsible stewardship of the environment \u201cand has been working hard for more than two decades to move in the right direction on sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baltus points to the \u201cpioneering\u201d Business Aviation Commitment on Climate Change (BACCC) initiative, launched in 2009 with\u00a0the aim\u00a0of achieving net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) emissions (relative to 2005) by 2050. Industry groups including the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the International Business Aviation Council have developed four guiding principles that provide a road map for ensuring safety, security, and sustainability. They include fostering investments to increase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and availability; encouraging greater use of industry initiatives such as SAF book-and-claim; supporting innovations such as electric-powered aircraft and other technologies that cut CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions, and championing cooperative programs to increase aviation sustainability.<\/p>\n \u201cWe committed in 2009 through the BACCC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the global business aviation fleet by 2 percent year-on-year by 2020, which we achieved, recording a fall of over 7 million tonnes of CO2<\/sub>\u00a0over that period,\u201d commented Kyle Martin, GAMA\u2019s vice-president of European affairs. \u201cWe renewed that pledge in 2021 and continue to slash CO2<\/sub>\u00a0by 2 percent annually.\u201d<\/p>\n These achievements have been met in part through efficiencies in powerplants and aircraft designs including aerodynamic refinements, the use of composite structures and other lightweight materials throughout the aircraft, and\u00a0improvements in avionics systems such as wider adoption of synthetic vision and head-up displays which allow aircraft to avoid weather delays.<\/p>\n \u201cBusiness aviation has long led the charge in the aviation industry on technological development investing billions in R&D to create enhanced, efficient, sustainable, safe, and desirable products. Today is no different,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n His view is supported by Marc Bailey, chief executive of the British Business and General Aviation Association.\u00a0Bailey suggests the industry\u2019s message must focus on its commitment to developing and implementing sustainable technology if it is to win over its critics. \u201cWe have a target on our backs,\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cWhile there is still a place in certain quarters to promote the benefits of private aviation as \u2018time machines\u2019 and \u2018tools for growing businesses and economies,\u2019 this argument is just not going to wash any longer in this environmentally sensitive climate.<\/p>\n \u201cTo win the argument today we have to demonstrate how our industry is charting the pathway towards a decarbonized future,\u201d Bailey added, \u201cand there are plenty of examples.\u201d<\/p>\n He points to the developments of alternative propulsion systems\u2014hydrogen fuel cells, hybrid-electric and full-electric, for example\u2014which have a clear path to their application in aerospace. Programs such as the Ampaire Eco Caravan (hybrid), and Eviation Alice (full-electric) notched their first sorties in 2022, while companies like ZeroAvia are closing in on this milestone with its hydrogen fuel-cell-based powertrain, Bailey noted. Developments in electric and battery technology are also driving a plethora of small electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft that are expected to come online as part of the advanced air mobility revolution before the end of the decade.<\/p>\n \u201cWe now need to roll up our sleeves and create the infrastructure and regulatory environment to bring these programs over the line and into service as soon as possible,\u201d said Bailey.<\/p>\n So far, business aviation\u2019s decarbonization efforts have largely been ignored by climate activists.<\/p>\n Critics of private aircraft flying frequently take aim at the high carbon burn per passenger compared with a regular commercial flight, acknowledged Glenn Hogben, chief executive of the Air Charter Association (ACA). \u201cThe narrative is often focused on the environmental cost per passenger, and while we acknowledge that the carbon burn for a business aircraft user is comparatively higher than that of a commercial aircraft passenger, it is important to emphasize that the industry contributes only 0.04 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually,\u201d said Hogben.<\/p>\n Despite the negative rhetoric, business aircraft operators and flyers are \u201cenvironmentally conscious,\u201d he insisted. To support this claim, Hogben pointed to a recent survey of ACA members in which more than 70 percent pledged to become net zero operations by 2032.<\/p>\n \u201cAlready more than half of the charter flights provided by our members use verified carbon offset programs to cover the emissions, and almost 70 percent are offsetting higher than the emissions on that flight,\u201d said Hogben.<\/p>\n With the availability of SAF\u2014a lower carbon alternative to jet fuel\u2014still patchy in Europe, book-and-claim programs are becoming increasingly popular. This initiative allows operators to purchase SAF at an airport where it is unavailable and receive credit for its supply and use at one where it is.\u00a0\u201cWhile there is no single solution to reach net zero, SAF is critical because it works to reduce CO2\u00a0<\/sub>emissions now,\u201d said Hogben<\/p>\n Unfortunately, global SAF supplies are less than 5 percent of aviation fuel demand, he noted, and SAF is far more expensive than conventional jet fuel.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the right market incentives that encourage investment in production and wider use, the cost will come down significantly,\u201d said Hogben.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the SAF blend cannot be more than 50 percent under current regulations, although Gulfstream in\u00a0December\u00a0became the business jet manufacturer to fly one of its aircraft on 100 percent SAF.<\/p>\n While the industry is committed to playing its part in the global decarbonization drive, it believes Europe\u2019s legislators must also step up, and urgently progress the long-delayed Single European Sky (SES) project.<\/p>\n Operators have expressed increasing frustration at the lack of efficiency and continued fragmentation of Europe\u2019s air traffic control services, which means their aircraft are flying longer than necessary routes.<\/p>\n Baltus said efforts by the European Commission to streamline the erratic network of national air navigation service providers and air traffic control centers have consistently faced roadblocks from some member states\u2014notably France and Germany, which jointly control a large part of the continent\u2019s airspace\u2014that want to retain sovereignty over their airspace and the revenues it generates.<\/p>\n \u201cSES has become too political, which is a shame,\u201d admitted Baltus. \u201cImplementing SES will allow seamless, direct routings meaning less time in the air, less inconvenience, lower costs and vitally, a reduction in CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European business aviation industry has been caught in the crosshairs of a burgeoning, vocal, and increasingly influential environmental community that regards the use of private aircraft as a polluting luxury that the planet can ill afford to accommodate. Of course, business aviation is no stranger to such opprobrium having faced a barrage of bruising …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[92,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-airports","category-featured-en"],"yoast_head":"\nANSWERING CRITICS WITH SUSTAINABILITY<\/strong><\/h2>\n
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS<\/strong><\/h2>\n