French transport minister takes action against frequent flyers in private jets

Paris There was a time when it was considered chic to travel the world in a private jet. But due to the energy crisis and climate change, those times are over. Bernard Arnault, head of the luxury goods group LVMH, which is increasingly being criticized in France, feels this too.

Several accounts have surfaced on Twitter, in which the flights of French billionaires in private jets are being pilloried in the spirit of growing environmental awareness, most notably Arnault. He is the second richest person in the world and particularly mobile. The 73-year-old’s empire includes brands such as Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy, Dior and Givenchy.

The topic is now also affecting French politics. Transport Minister Clément Beaune, a close confidant of President Emmanuel Macron, wants to regulate the use of the jets. His demand: flights with private planes should be restricted because of the high emissions and for reasons of justice. “There are behaviors that are no longer acceptable,” says Beaune.

If the French had to restrict themselves in everyday life, then private jet travel just for individual fun would no longer be acceptable. He expects a rethink from the particularly strong polluters.

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The Minister of Transport is not concerned with important business appointments that have to be reached with the jets. It is expressly about the private flights of the company bosses.

EU-wide regulation for flights with private jets required

If Beaune has its way, there should even be an EU-wide private jet regulation. The topic will be discussed at the next meeting of European transport ministers in October. The French transport minister stressed that the EU must act as one on the matter in order to “maximise impact”.

>> Read also: Wingly wants to make private jet flights affordable for average earners

Bernard Arnold

LVMH boss Bernard Arnauld has been criticized for frequent private flights.

(Photo: Reuters)

In France, not only the government has private jets in its sights. Left and Greens agree with Beaune. And they want to go even further. Green Party national secretary Julien Bayou said it was time to “ban all private jets”. This would only affect a few people, but would have great ecological advantages.

“Some people take the plane like others take the subway,” he lamented. How can one ask the population to make an effort when the richest are exempt from everything? There are therefore more and more calls on social media to act in this regard.

Environmentally unfriendly lifestyle in the Twitter “pillory”

However, Beaune thinks it would be “absurd” to ban private planes altogether. He relies on transparency: the flights completed should be published and taxed higher. However, there could be restrictions on short flights if there are alternatives with trains or commercial flights at the same time. Beaune is referring to an already existing climate law in France that bans airlines on routes for which there is an alternative in less than two and a half hours by train.

Clement Beaune

The French Minister of Transport, Clement Beaune, also wants to campaign for regulation of private flights at European level.

(Photo: Reuters)

One of the worst polluters is said to be Bernard Arnault, as the Twitter account “I Fly Bernard” can be seen. The account wants to show the company boss’s “environmentally unfriendly lifestyle” and has been tracking the flights of the LVMH jets since April. The account has over 63,000 followers.

There is also an Instagram account “laviondebernard” with over 78,000 followers on the subject, on Twitter the account installed in June to over 32,000 followers. The numbers are increasing rapidly on all accounts. The daily Liberation writes: “Some people pollute more than others.”

The records show the extent: In one month (May was evaluated), an LVMH jet made 18 flights, flew 46 hours and emitted 176 tons of CO2. It is not known whether Arnault himself was on the plane each time. The information comes from flight tracking data websites such as OpenSky-Network.org or ADSBExchange.com, where it is available to the public.

>> Read also: Asia’s new richest man is hated by climate activists – and worshiped on the stock market

For comparison: On average, a Frenchman currently produces around ten tons of CO2 a year. LVMH, on the other hand, emits in one month the same amount of CO2 that a Frenchman produces in 17 years of CO2 on average. The LVMH jet is said to have constantly flown back and forth between Paris, London, Milan and Nice. Even flights within London were registered.

Not only French business people in the focus of the trackers

The organizers of the Instagram and Twitter pages, each of whom wish to remain anonymous, are already triumphant that the public accusations have made the billionaires more cautious. However, the trackers believe that the businessmen are simply hiring other private planes.

Other billionaires such as businessman Vincent Bolloré or François-Henri Pinault, head of the luxury group Kering, are also under surveillance in France. Economic giants in other countries have also been criticized, such as billionaire Elon Musk, who is tracked with a Twitter account. In addition, the often anonymous environmentalists follow stars like Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner.

And they aren’t just targeting private jets: the first pages are now also appearing for other big energy wasters. An example: YachtCO2tracker on Twitter observed luxury yachts.

Pollution is not a luxury problem. Transport Minister Beaune raised the issue to a political issue in Europe with his initiative.

More: Forbes List 2022 – These are the ten richest people in the world


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