Frankfurt The dimensions are unimaginable: the Boeing 777X offers its owner 342.7 square meters of space. The VIP business jet is almost four times the size of an average German apartment. For the first time since it was unveiled in 2018, Boeing sold such a private plane in May – to an unnamed customer.
Although the VIP jet is an exception, a race for strength and size has erupted in the private jet market. Honda Aircraft is working on the Honda Jet 2600, a private aircraft for up to ten passengers and with a range of almost 5000 kilometers. According to its own statements, the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer is considering developing aircraft above its largest jet class to date – the Praetor family. Twelve passengers should find space and be able to fly 7440 kilometers.
What all plans have in common: The aircraft are to be powered by combustion engines. They can also process synthetically produced kerosene, the so-called SAF. But new and climate-neutral drive concepts are not to be found among the manufacturers, as was recently shown at the EBACE in Geneva, the air show for business aviation.
This increasingly bothers the operators and users of these aircraft. “There were no real new developments at EBACE, it was a show of dinosaurs,” said Andreas Mundsinger, Managing Director of the German Business Aviation Association (GBAA), to the Handelsblatt: “We need more action on the part of the manufacturers, too. Announcements are not enough.”
The pressure on private and corporate jets is increasing day by day. Climate activists are no longer the only ones to draw attention to their excessive use. In countries like France, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands, politicians are also targeting the industry.
With actions like this one at the beginning of June, climate activists repeatedly draw attention to what they believe to be the excessive use of private aircraft.
(Photo: ddp/JONAS GEHRING)
“We currently have the impression that many governments in Europe are still against regulation or even bans,” said Mundsinger. But there are growing fears that the industry will eventually be regulated in Europe. Especially if it turns out that aviation will not achieve the climate goals because countries outside Europe are much more relaxed about the issue. “The biggest concern is that there could be political activism that does little for the environment.”
Several states are demanding tougher action against private jets from the EU
There are first efforts in France to subject private aviation to strict conditions. Clement Beaune, the country’s transport minister, failed last summer with the idea of banning private travel in business jets. But now the tax on kerosene for private planes is to be increased significantly – to the level of car fuel.
On top of that. On June 1st, members of the European Council for Transport, Telecommunications and Energy considered a submission from delegates from France, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands. They call on the EU to take tougher action against private planes. “We believe that this issue requires more attention, especially by examining possible regulatory measures,” says the letter, which is available to the Handelsblatt.
Even if the EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean has so far rejected regulatory intervention in private aviation, the pressure will not ease. Especially since private aircraft are being used more and more frequently. According to data from the European aviation security organization Eurocontrol, they took off more than 94,000 times in Germany last year, an increase of nine percent. More than 70 percent of the flights covered a distance of less than 500 kilometers, many even flew less than 300 kilometers.
Even this number puts the industry in need of explanation. In addition, purely private and business flights are mixed up in the discussion. When registering a flight, it is not stored why it takes place. However, the goals provide an indication. Of the more than 10,000 private flights at Hamburg Airport between the beginning of 2022 and April 2023, a good twelve percent went to holiday destinations such as Westerland, Mallorca, Tenerife or Ibiza.
“The bashing against our industry is one-sided,” complains Mundsinger from the GBAA association: “We need an objective discussion with everyone involved, especially with the climate activists.” In the current debate about private aviation, the fact that entrepreneurs and managers sometimes need the business aircraft is ignored , because it has to be done quickly and there is no alternative: “Flying is a means to an end for companies.”
First airports want to ban private jets
In the future, however, it could become more difficult for them to fly everywhere. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport wants to ban private jets completely by 2025 at the latest. And Düsseldorf Airport would also like to reduce the number of private flights in order to get more flexibility for scheduled connections.
Mundsinger knows that the industry has to act on the issue of climate: “We have understood that we have to do something.” But instead of regulating flights, other levers make more sense. For example in the allocation of the so-called CO2 pollution rights by the EU.
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Commercial aviation companies have an exemption limit of 10,000 tons, non-commercial of 1000 tons. “We would not mind if these exemption limits were lowered. So far, however, the EU Commission has been reluctant to do so because of the allegedly high bureaucratic effort,” said Mundsinger.
The spokesman for the association also has no fundamental objection to higher taxation. According to the GBAA, around 34 percent of flights with private aircraft are non-commercial. These include company transport from companies such as Würth, Herrenknecht, BMW AG, Viessmann, Brose and Liebherr. These companies pay taxes when you fill up anyway.
On the other hand, commercial aviation companies are exempt from energy tax in business aviation, analogous to commercial airlines. “We are not opposed to taxation,” said Mundsinger: “The flights will then be more expensive.”
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