Private Jet Emissions: What a Flight Emits, and What Europe Charges

How to work out a jet’s CO2

The calculation is simpler than most people expect. Under the EU’s monitoring rules, an aircraft operator determines its CO2 by multiplying the fuel consumed, in tonnes, by the emission factor, and the default factor for jet fuel is 3.15 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of Jet A-1 or Jet A. Where fuel is measured in litres, the rules allow a standard density of 0.8 kg per litre. Every tonne of fuel burned is, in other words, a little over three tonnes of CO2.

So the only figure you really need is the fuel burn. Ask the operator for the planned block fuel of your flight, multiply by 3.15, and you have its direct CO2 more accurately than any generic calculator will give you.

CO2 per hour, aircraft by aircraft

Duncan Aviation publishes average fuel burns by model. The Phenom 300/E burns 169 US gallons per hour, the Pilatus PC-24 220 and the Challenger 350 280; at the top of the range, the Global 7500 burns 460 and the Gulfstream G650ER 485. Converting with the EU’s standard density and emission factor, by my arithmetic that is about 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per hour for the Phenom 300E, 2.1 for the PC-24, 2.7 for the Challenger 350, 4.4 for the Global 7500 and 4.6 for the G650ER.

Those are averages, and a real flight varies with weight, wind and how much of it is climb. But the order of magnitude matches independent work: Transport & Environment notes that a single private jet can emit two tonnes of CO2 in one hour, and the 2024 study by Gössling, Humpe and Leitão found business jet fuel consumption ranging from 182 to 2,180 litres per hour across 72 models. By my arithmetic, the largest jets burn about twelve times as much per hour as the smallest. Aircraft choice is the single biggest lever, which is why I start every quote with the right aircraft, not simply the larger one.

Per flight and per passenger

Across the world, the 2024 study counted 4,301,561 private flights in 2023, which together emitted 15.62 Mt CO2 (3.6 t CO2 per flight). The average flight was 865.7 km and 90 minutes, and almost half of all flights (47.4%) cover distances below 500 km. The authors put the sector’s total at 1.7% to 1.8% of commercial aviation’s CO2 emissions, and found that emissions increased by 46% between 2019-2023.

Per passenger, the comparison with an airliner is unflattering, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. Transport & Environment calculates that private jets are 5 to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes (per passenger), and 50 times more polluting than trains. A worked example: Jet Supply’s index prices London to Nice at 1h 42m on a super light jet. In a Phenom 300E, by my arithmetic, that is roughly 2.7 tonnes of CO2 for the flight, or about 0.7 tonnes each for four passengers. Fill six seats and the share falls; fly alone and it is all yours.

The empty leg nobody sees

The figure that most often doubles a trip’s footprint is not on the client’s itinerary at all. Avi-Go found that business jets in Europe flew empty on approximately 40% of sectors from January to August 2025. A one-way charter whose aircraft must fly home empty, or an aircraft positioned from two hours away, carries those emissions as surely as it carries their cost.

This is where a broker can make a real difference without anyone flying less. An aircraft based near the departure point, a return leg timed to suit the aircraft’s next mission, or an empty leg used when the dates fit, all remove fuel from the trip. I explain why positioning shapes the price in repositioning economics; the same logic applies to the carbon.

What Europe charges today

The EU Emissions Trading System has covered aviation since 2012. Its scope is currently limited to flights within the EEA, and departing flights to Switzerland and the United Kingdom, until the start of 2027. Free allowances for aircraft operators were reduced by 25% in 2024 and by 50% in 2025, moving to full auctioning for the sector by 2026, so an operator in the scheme now buys every allowance it surrenders.

The catch for business aviation is the threshold. Commercial operators fall outside the obligation below 10,000 tonnes of CO2 for annual emissions or 243 flights in the three consecutive four-month periods, and non-commercial operators below 1,000 tonnes CO2 per year are exempt until 2030. Many smaller business jet operators sit below those lines. For illustration only: at the allowance price of EUR 80 the Commission uses in its own example, the study’s average 3.6-tonne flight would carry about €290 of carbon cost if its operator were in the scheme. That is small next to a charter price; the national taxes I list in private jet taxes in Europe weigh far more.

Outside Europe, the global scheme is CORSIA, under which operators must monitor and report when their international flights produce annual CO2 emissions greater than 10 000 tonnes from aeroplanes with a maximum take-off mass greater than 5 700 kg. Norton Rose Fulbright notes that annual emissions on international flights below 10,000 tonnes of CO₂ are not subject to CORSIA.

What the Commission proposed in July 2026

On 17 July 2026 the Commission proposed a targeted revision of the EU Emissions Trading System. For business aviation it is, in my view, the most significant change since 2012. According to Norton Rose Fulbright’s analysis, business flights would be brought in by removing the number of flights as a criterion (which many business jet operators benefit from) and replacing it with a single lower emissions threshold for all operator types. The Commission notes that business jet emissions have largely been exempted from the EU ETS, and the distinction between commercial and private operators would go, so the system would cover all private jets used by individuals who meet the emissions threshold.

The proposal would also extend the ETS, from January 2029 to December 31, 2032, to flights from the EEA to destinations within 5,000 km of Frankfurt Airport, which would take in airports in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a proposal, not law: Parliament and the Member States still have to agree it. Separately, the EU has required monitoring and reporting of non-CO2 aviation effects from 1 January 2025; EASA has estimated that those effects, such as contrails and nitrogen oxides, accounted for more than half (66%) of the sector’s net climate forcing in 2018. My reading is simple: the exemptions that have kept most business jet flights in Europe outside carbon pricing are likely to narrow.

How I help clients fly lighter

I do not tell clients not to fly; that is their decision. What I can do is take fuel out of the trip. In order of effect: the right-sized aircraft, since a Phenom 300E burns by my arithmetic about 40% less per hour than a Challenger 350 for a group that fits either; fewer empty positioning legs; full seats rather than two aircraft; and, on short city pairs with a fast train, an honest word that the train may be quicker door to door.

Sustainable aviation fuel helps on the share actually blended, and I set out what it costs and what can be claimed in sustainable aviation fuel and private jets. Offsets are a separate purchase and should be described as such. I am wary of any flight sold as ‘carbon neutral’ without a clear statement of what was bought, from whom, and for how many tonnes.

Charter enquiries I take are fulfilled through Limitless Sky. If you send me the trip, I will set the aircraft options side by side with their typical fuel burn as well as their price, so that the choice is made with both in view.

Frequently asked questions

How much CO2 does a private jet emit per hour? — It depends on the aircraft. Using Duncan Aviation’s average fuel burns and the EU’s emission factor of 3.15, a Phenom 300E emits about 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per hour, a Challenger 350 about 2.7 and a Global 7500 or G650ER about 4.4 to 4.6 tonnes.

How much CO2 does an average private flight emit? — A 2024 study of 4.3 million private flights found about 3.6 tonnes of CO2 per flight in 2023, with an average flight of 866 km and 90 minutes.

Are private jets worse than commercial flights per passenger? — Yes. Transport & Environment calculates 5 to 14 times more CO2 per passenger than a commercial plane and 50 times more than a train. Full seats and a smaller aircraft narrow the gap; they do not close it.

Do private jets pay for carbon in Europe? — Only if their operator is in the EU ETS. Smaller commercial operators below 10,000 tonnes a year or 243 flights per four-month period, and private operators below 1,000 tonnes, are currently exempt. The Commission’s July 2026 proposal would replace those exemptions with a single, lower emissions threshold.