Private jets flocking to Cannes branded 'obscene' as fuel crisis sparks food shortage fears
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More than 700 private flights flew to and from Cannes Film Festival for last year’s star-studded event, burning two million litres of fuel.
A-listers attending the Cannes Film Festival this year have been urged to fly economy or take the train, as Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz ignites a global fuel crisis.
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Experts warn that food shortages and famine are a ‘likely outcome’ in many regions around the world, while limited fuel supply may start to impact disaster relief efforts and humanitarian aid.
European holidaymakers are also bracing for major disruption over the busy summer period. Already, around 13,000 flights scheduled for May have been cancelled by airlines around the world.
How polluting is the Cannes Film Festival?
New research from NGO Transport and Environment (T&E) shows that last year, private jet travel at the Cannes Film Festival in France burned through around two million litres of fossil fuel kerosene.
This is equivalent to an average combustion engine car driving 30 million kilometres, roughly 750 times around the equator – releasing emissions comparable to 14,000 passengers on commercial return flights from Paris to Athens.
RelatedFormer pilots and a group of millionaires are now demanding that private jets to the A-list-studded event are grounded, and that the EU close the “glaring loopholes” that allow many of the wealthiest to dodge fuel taxes.
The bloc’s carbon tax system (ETS) exempts two-thirds of private jets and all international flights from paying the carbon tax that every commercial passenger flying within the EU pays.
‘No excuse to be flying on a private jet’
“With climate change accelerating, this reckless excess is outrageous – especially now when limited available fuel is desperately needed elsewhere for basic food production, disaster relief efforts and other humanitarian emergencies,” says Katie Thompson, a former private jet pilot.
“There is absolutely no excuse to be flying around on a private jet with multiple crises unfolding in front of our eyes.”
Thompson is calling on celebrities to follow in the footsteps of award-winning actor Pedro Pascal, who flew to Cannes in economy last year.
“There’s no reason why the rest of them can’t do the same, or take the train where possible,” she adds. “After all, we are all in this together.”
Anthony Viaux, a former Air France pilot of more than 20 years, argues that his flying career gave him a ‘front-row seat’ to climate change.
“The rich and famous burning through scarce fuel to get to a film festival isn’t just tone-deaf, it’s obscene,” he says. Viaux is also calling for the EU to tighten rules around carbon tax, arguing that policymakers shouldn’t let Donald Trump’s administration ‘dictate the rules’.
RelatedEU urged to close carbon ‘loophole’
This year, the EU will address the future of the European emissions trading system (ETS) which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft operations, among other sectors, by setting a price on carbon through a cap-and-trade system.
“Private jets are a luxury only the very wealthiest few can afford, yet most of these flights are still not subject to fuel or carbon taxes – taxes that the majority of people pay every day as they travel to work,” says Julia Davies, a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK.
“Right now, amidst a fuel and accelerating climate crisis, fixing this means two things: grounding private jets to protect fuel for vital services including ambulances and making sure that private jets pay at least the same taxes as a care worker pays travelling to vulnerable clients.”
Cannes Film Festival has been approached for comment.
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