The European Business Aviation (EBAA) issued a strongly worded response to a report on bizav activity commissioned by environmental campaign group Greenpeace. Compiled by from research consultancy CE Delft, the report claimed that bizav flights in 2022 from Dutch airports had leapt by 87% over 2021, and by 64% across the EU as a whole. The report also claimed a similarly large increase in CO2 emissions from flights departing the Netherlands.

In its response, the EBAA pointed out that the report was not based on data from Eurocontrol and that its conclusions were distorted by ignoring pre-pandemic data. The EBAA asserted that European bizav in 2022 had in fact grown by only 7% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 – the last ‘regular’ year before travel restrictions were introduced. In terms of CO2 emissions, the EBAA also noted that bizav was an extremely small sector that was responsible for a very small proportion of global aviation emissions – just 0.04% of the total. Finally, the EBAA pointed to the efforts by bizav to embrace sustainability and reduce CO2 emissions as part of a clear, long-term strategy. “Contrary to what Greenpeace wants to believe, business aviation is actually driving aviation sustainability,” it said.