Passenger traffic at European airports reached pre-Covid levels in the first half of this year, according to industry data, driven by a rise in leisure and family travel. “Flight shame is dead,” said Stefan Gössling, a researcher at Lund University, who studies tourism and climate change. “Partly what killed it is that governments promised to act on climate change … You can’t keep up momentum if people don’t still believe they need to fight.”
Airlines have marketed carbon offsets, a tool that can help steer money to climate protection, as a way to fly guilt-free. But scientists have repeatedly found the offset market to be riddled with flaws and courts have clamped down on airlines that advertise them as such.
Research found that the vast majority of Europeans believe people could have a “real holiday” without flying – but that many did not realise flying was worse for the planet than taking the train.