The Cannes Film Festival started this Tuesday, bringing heavy traffic to the local runways. Rich celebrities and executives are flying their private jets directly into Cannes-Mandelieu Airport. They continue to fly even as the world faces a massive jet fuel shortage. Environmental groups desperately want governments to ground these luxury flights entirely. Meanwhile, the business jet lobby completely ignores these demands and defends the wealthy travelers.
The situation highlights a massive divide between normal travelers and the ultra-rich. Major commercial airlines like SAS and Lufthansa recently cut thousands of flights from their summer schedules. They had to slash these routes because fuel costs keep rising during the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran. Shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz caused European jet fuel prices to double their normal pre-war levels. Ordinary families now worry every single day about receiving an email that cancels their hard-earned summer holiday.
However, billionaires and movie stars ignore these problems with commercial flights. The Carbon Sky Index tracks aviation emissions and reports that private jet departures in Europe actually increased last month. Wealthy flyers took exactly 23,462 private flights across Europe in April. This number represents a 10 percent jump from the flight totals in March. Analysts believe the Easter holiday drove most of this sudden travel surge.
Specific airports show exactly how much the rich still travel. Nice Côte d’Azur Airport saw its private jet traffic nearly double during the week of April 6 alone. This surge happens at a terrible time for European energy supplies. Goldman Sachs estimates that European commercial jet fuel stocks might soon drop below a 23-day supply by late May or early June. The International Energy Agency considers this 23-day mark a highly critical danger zone for regional security.
The European Business Aviation Association strongly defends the wealthy flyers. Róman Kok directs public affairs for the group. He says a short weekly increase does not prove that demand is permanently exploding. Kok argues that business aviation makes up only 7 percent of all flights across Europe. He claims these small planes use a tiny fraction of the total aviation fuel supply.
The data tells a very specific story about pollution and fuel burn. April’s private jet boom pumped exactly 83,847 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air. This marks a clear increase from the 80,000 metric tons recorded in March. Still, the business lobby points out that, overall, aviation in Europe produced 195 million tons of emissions in 2025. They argue that grounding private jets would save very little fuel in the grand scheme of things.
Climate campaigners reject this small-fraction excuse completely. Katie Thompson used to fly private jets for a living, but she now actively fights against them. She calls luxury travel completely irresponsible during a severe global fuel shortage. She points out that private planes burn the same kerosene that regular passenger planes need to operate. She warns that if the supply chain gets worse, hospitals and rescue teams might soon lack fuel for basic medical emergencies.
Thompson wants movie stars to stop acting selfishly at major industry events. She challenges actors attending the Cannes Film Festival to fly economy class this year. She highlights actor Pedro Pascal, who happily flew economy to the film gala last year. Transport and Environment researchers found that VIP guests burned roughly 2 million liters of kerosene flying to Cannes last year. That massive amount of fuel equals the pollution from 14,000 normal round-trip flights between Paris and Athens.
Campaigners also want the European Commission to change its carbon tax rules. They claim the current carbon pricing rules contain massive loopholes for rich flyers. Activists say the trading system simply ignores about two-thirds of all private planes. Kok completely rejects this claim from the environmentalists. He says the tax exemptions apply to all types of aviation, not just luxury business flights. He believes the industry needs to develop sustainable aviation fuels instead of banning flights outright.
The fight between climate activists and billionaires will only grow hotter this year. Jérôme du Boucher helps run the aviation team for the Transport and Environment group. He says governments have no excuse for letting private jets fly while ordinary airlines cancel routes. Campaigners plan to target other high-society events very soon aggressively. Thompson confirmed they will protest at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Australian Open.
