Low Emission Zones: Flight ban for private aircraft

Several Twitter accounts have given rise to these considerations. They have taken a closer look at the flight movements of French billionaires. For example, Bernard Arnault of the luxury goods group LVMH flew three times across Europe in his private jet on one day in mid-August, emitting as much pollution as a single car does on average in ten years. What's more, millions of motorists pay taxes on their fuel when they fill up, while there are no taxes on aviation fuel throughout the EU.

This injustice is now enough for Green politician Julien Bayrou: The politician wants to see that it's not always just car drivers who are being bullied. He is therefore calling for a ban on private flights and also on luxury yachts, which carry far too few people. The biggest polluters fly namely airplane and sail on luxury yachts over the waters.

Especially in France, where there is a lot of resistance to new and old environmental zones, it falls on open ears. This is because many drivers with old cars can no longer drive into the inner cities because of the zones, with all the consequences that entails: Either a car with lower pollutant emissions has to be bought. Or the old car has to be parked on the edge of the low emission zone and then the rest of the way has to be made by public transport - often in irregularly running and overcrowded local transport. 

Calls for a ban are therefore growing louder: Julien Bayou of the French Green Party is seeking a response from the EU. He says, "It can't be that people with the biggest carbon footprint are not encouraged to protect the environment at all because they take the private plane like others take the subway." French Transport Minister Clément Beaune has also recognized the problem and plans to put private flights on the agenda at the next informal meeting of transport ministers in Prague on Oct. 20. If a ban on the flights is not possible, Beaune wants to at least achieve regulation of the flights. What form this regulation should take has yet to be discussed. The fact is that today airports and ports in Europe are all outside environmental zones. Would an expansion of the zone be a solution? Probably not, because the current rules work for vehicles, but hardly for ships and airplanes. It's high time to think about new rules for ports and airports, so that they can also contribute to reducing emissions. Ultimately, a ban on private aircraft will also contribute to the acceptance of environmental zones.