It’s the ultimate dilemma for the seriously rich with a conscience — how to enjoy private jet travel without the guilt over carbon footprints. But now a scheme has been set up that claims to allow travelers the chance to cut their carbon emissions without compromising on the luxury and sheer convenience such flights offer.
Jet-sharing, based on the kind of car-sharing scheme popular with the eco-conscious, is the latest concept to emerge from Britain’s booming market in private jet hire.
Launched by Private Jet Club, a jet brokerage company based in the City of London, the service encourages members to avoid the expense and environmental impact of hiring an entire aircraft by sharing it with like-minded individuals. Members are assured they will travel in an “economically and environmentally responsible manner”.
“A lot of people like to have a stab at the super-rich,” said Alex Hunter, director of the Private Jet Club. “They see jet travel as unnecessary expenditure and unnecessary carbon emissions. But it is necessary for people whose itinerary cannot be dictated by commercial airlines.”
Hunter said that while “bespoke travel” is on the increase — jet travel in Europe is due to increase by 30 percent by 2012, according to one estimate — those who use it are becoming increasingly environmentally aware. The economic downturn has also taken its toll.
“They can’t ignore it,” he said. “Carbon emissions are too much of a hot topic and everyone wants to do their bit. On a corporate level, people are also looking to cut costs. We are looking at one way of reducing an unnecessary number of jets in the sky.”
Environmentalists, however, are deeply skeptical about the scheme.
Jeff Gazzard, of the Aviation Environment Federation, described it as “the equivalent of taking a Rolls-Royce on the school run, and justifying it by letting the neighbors’ kids ride too.”
“Obviously jet-sharing makes a bit of a difference, but it’s not saving the planet to fly three people in a trans-Atlantic business jet when they could have done it on British Airways,” he said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was