Humphrey CarterMallorca26/08/2022 11:45
TW
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While France’s recently re-elected president Emmanuel Macron was photographed burning up litres of fuel on a jet ski in the South of France this summer, he and the government, which he has more of less taken over from the lame duck prime minister, have come up with the idea of curtailing, if not banning, the use of private jets in the EU as part of the country’s commitment to fighting climate change.

French transport minister Clement Beaune told daily newspaper Le Parisien: “We should act to regulate flights on private jets. Some types of behaviour are no longer acceptable.”

Beaune said private jet flights could no longer be taken “just for the comfort of individuals” when the French government is calling for public sacrifices to address the energy crisis and global warming.
And Macron is considering imposing restrictions and raising taxes on private flights, and potentially banning flights to destinations served by rail or scheduled airlines. Surely this will go against the EU right to freedom of travel, although the French are famous for cherry-picking what they do and do not like from the EU rule book.

But nevertheless, with destinations like Mallorca and Ibiza enjoying a private jet boom as we emerge from Covid, the more widespread repercussions could be very damaging to the luxury end of the tourist industry.