They took over 5,000 empty flights. Among them are planes from Poland

The Guardian reports that since 2019, UK airports have taken in more than 5,000 completely empty passenger flights, with another 35,000 according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). percent. places. Consequently, we are actually dealing with 40 thousand. ghost flights.

The British newspaper notes that in one of the quarters, 62 empty planes took off from Luton Airport to Poland. However, this is nothing compared to other figures which show that the Port of Heathrow recorded 663 nearly empty flights to and from the US.

“Shocking Data”

Air travel, especially when poorly filled, results in higher carbon dioxide emissions per passenger than traveling the same route by bus or even by car, experts say. - Releasing this data is a step in the right direction, but we need more transparency to understand why these inefficient, polluting practices continue and to hold major airlines accountable - comments by Tim Johnson of the Aeronautical Environmental Protection Federation quoted in the newspaper. Given the climate crisis, the discovery that so many nearly empty planes are burning fossil fuels and adding CO2 to the atmosphere is quite shocking. he adds.

Alethea Warrington of the climate charity Maybe also finds the published numbers shocking. “These shocking new data on ghost flights are yet another example that the aviation industry cannot be trusted to manage emissions in the right direction to deal with the climate crisis. Warrington said.

Environmental groups are calling for a tax on jet fuel. They also cast doubt on plans to expand the airport.

Officially empty flights may be operated to comply with regulations applicable to carriers and airport owners. A spokesman for the UK Department for Transport said it would work with the Civil Aviation Authority to monitor aircraft occupancy and seek more transparency on sham flights.