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Shame for flying, the phenomenon where people avoid the plane for ecological
reasons, is becoming harder and harder. In Germany, Europe's largest airline
market, there were 12 percent fewer travelers on domestic flights in November
than the year before, the Bloomberg news agency learned. It is already the
fourth monthly fall in a row, while the number of passengers on German
railways is at a record level. As a result, something similar appears to be
happening in Germany as in Sweden, where the shame movement (or flygskam)
originates and where climate activist Greta Thunberg comes from. There too,
many travelers exchanged the plane for the train for the train.
 
For airlines, flying shame is gradually becoming a problem. Brian Pearce,
chief economist of the international aviation umbrella IATA, said in October
that the phenomenon "can be a factor that will slow growth in the future."
Research by the Swiss bank UBS among six thousand Western travelers showed
that one in five consciously took the plane less often. If that trend
continues, the growth of the aviation sector could halve. According to
Reuters, the growth in air traffic in Europe would still be 1.5 percent per
year. That is half the forecast that aircraft manufacturer Airbus has in mind.
 
Airlines are not overjoyed with the phenomenon. Carsten Spohr, CEO of the
German aviation giant Lufthansa, called the environmental concerns against his
sector "fake news" last month, the aviation website Simple Flying reported.
"Our sector accounts for 2.8 percent of global CO2 emissions," Spohr said at
an IATA conference. "As I asked before, what about the other 97.2 percent? Do
they do so much good for society as we do? Do they reduce their emissions as
much as we do? "
 
      "You should not see airlines as a symbol of climate change. That is
       fake news "Carsten Spohr Ceo Lufthansa
 
The new European Commission is aiming for a kerosene tax in the context of its
Green Deal. According to the IATA, such a tax will prevent airlines from
making the necessary investments to become more ecological. Ryanair CEO
Michael O'Leary already called the intention "something that was dreamed
together in Brussels, or made up by cyclists in the Netherlands".
 
Experts, however, expect that the environmental impact of aviation will
increase sharply, even though aircraft are becoming increasingly energy
efficient, as the volume of air traffic grows. Domestic flights may count on
less interest, but the number of passengers on long-haul flights does not
decrease. In addition, air traffic is rapidly increasing in emerging countries
such as China. This year's European Commission report expects global emissions
from the sector to increase by 21% to around 200 million tonnes even with
significant technological advances by 2040.

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