Quaffing champagne at 40,000ft, flying from glitzy party to awards dos and back again in time for bed — it’s a hard life being an A-lister with your own luxury jet.
But the high life has come under fire this week, as celebrities are being named and shamed for their excessive use of private plans.
A single private jet emits as much carbon dioxide in an hour as the average person does in an entire year, with private flights 14 times more polluting (per passenger) than a commercial plane.
Yet their super-rich owners — many of whom boast about their apparent eco credentials — are hopping on and off their jets for trips that last less than 15 minutes. Using data compiled by an international flight tracker, British marketing agency Yard compiled a list of the worst offenders.
So whose plane is the worst polluter? And who’s the biggest climate hypocrite among the high fliers?
Kylie Jenner
THE JET: Kim Kardashian’s younger sister Kylie has been labeled a “climate criminal” for repeated short haul trips on her £60 million jet. Last month, the billionaire social media star, 24, shared a picture on Instagram showing two private plans — her own de ella and one belonging to her rapper boyfriend, Travis Scott — with the smug caption: “You wanna take mine or yours ?”.
She bought the all-white 59.6ft-long Bombardier Global 7500 on a reported spending spree in 2020.
The exterior features her name and a Barbie-pink strip, while the interiors have white seats, pink satin pillows and eye masks (bearing ‘Kylie Skin’, the name of her make-up range) and colored lights that can be set to different hues depending on the time of day. There are Hermes blankets for guests, two bathrooms, a master suite and an on-board wardrobe.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 64 this year.
SHORTEST FLIGHT: 12 minutes (Van Nuys to Camarillo, both in California).
CO2 EMITTED: 1,682.7 tons — 240 times the average person.
ECO BOASTS: Kylie prides herself on buying eco-friendly products for her daughter Stormi, four, and made her make-up range vegan last year, telling followers she was going ‘vegan and clean’ because it was ‘time to elevate’ for the planet.
TAYLOR SWIFT
THE JET: The 32-year-old singer — worth an estimated £470 million — bought her private plane, a £33 million Dassault-Breguet Mystere falcon 900, in 2011. With its plush cream interiors and in-built flat screen TVs, it features 18 fully reclining seats and a distinctive number 13 on the side (her lucky number and birth date in December).
She used to own two jets but sold the smaller one (worth a mere £4.9 million) in early 2020.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 170 this year
SHORTEST FLIGHT: 36 minutes (Missouri to Nashville, Tennessee).
CO2 EMITTED: 8,293.54 tons — 1,185 times the average person’s annual carbon emissions of seven tons.
ECO BOASTS: in 2020, Taylor was branded a “sustainable fashion influencer” by Vogue. In another interview that same year, she branded climate change a “horrific situation.”
A representative defended her apparent air miles, saying that her jet is “loaned out regularly to other individuals”. They added: “To attribute most or all of these trips to her de ella is blatantly incorrect”.
OPRAH WINFREY
THE JET: With an estimated net worth of more than £2 billion, it’s no wonder TV host Oprah has her own posh plane. The 68-year-old bought a £62 million Gulfstream G650 in 2016, reportedly after becoming irritated when a female fan asked her for a hug while she was waiting in an airport queue.
The opulent jet, which can comfortably fit 16, is divided into four themed areas: dine, work, entertain and relax.
There’s a double bed, a conference room and a dining area as well as an on-board chef.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 68 this year.
SHORTEST FLIGHT: 14 minutes (Van Nuys to Santa Barbara, California).
CO2 EMITTED: 3,493.17 tons — 499 times the average person.
ECO BOASTS: “The future of life as we know it is being determined by everything we’re doing — and not doing — now,” wrote Oprah, in a 2019 post calling on fans to do their bit for the environment.
MARK WAHLBERG
THE JET: actor Mark, 51, owns a £9.9 million Bombardier global Express jet, which he bought in 2016. The top-of-the-range model — which he had renovated at vast expense last year — has a large ‘W’ on the tail and such a spacious cabin that the fitness-obsessed star can do workouts on board.
Pictures from his social media show soft beige furnishings and polished wood, as well as several screens so his four children can benefit from the high-speed wi-fi. Mark came under fire last month for taking a series of short flights from London to Dublin (48 minutes) and then on to Shannon (23 minutes) for a round of golf.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 101 this year.
SHORTEST FLIGHT: nine minutes (Los Angeles to Van Nuys, California).
CO2 EMITTED: 3,772.85 tons — 538.9 times the average person.
ECO BOASTS: in 2020, Mark publicly pledged to give up meat and dairy to reduce its impact on the planet. Yet he has said his jet from him is his “personal 21st century transporter” that takes him “anywhere in the world”.
Kim Kardashian
THE JET: Bedecked in cashmere, the reality TV star’s £124 million jet, ‘Kim Air’, is as gaudy as you might expect. Kim, 41, owns a Gulfstream G650ER, a blingier version of the plans belonging to Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
Hers has been customized inside and out, masterminded by interior designer Waldo Fernandez, whose clients have also included Elizabeth Taylor and Brad Pitt. The 18-seater jet features wood paneling, two beds and two bathrooms as well as ‘enhanced air ionisation’, which recreates a fresh breeze at high altitude.
Guests wear slippers from Skims, Kim’s underwear brand, lest they muddy the carpet.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 57 this year.
SHORTEST FLIGHT: Ten minutes (Van Nuys to Camarillo, California).
CO2 EMITTED: 4,268.5 tons — 609.8 times the average person.
ECO BOASTS: The reality star has spoken in the past about wanting her businesses to be more environmentally-friendly. In 2019, she praised climate activist Greta Thunberg, and, a year later, she tweeted: ‘Climate change is real’ alongside an emoji of a broken heart.
TOM CRUISE*
THE JET: The Top Gun star, 60, owns not one but five private jets — the most opulent of which is the 19-seat Gulfstream IV, worth around £16.5 million.
The aircraft, nicknamed the limousine of the jet world, is decked out with a Jacuzzi and top-of-the-range cinema room, as well as elegant soft furnishings. The actor often flies his private plans himself, having qualified for his pilot’s license in 1994. He also sends them on gratuitous gifting missions around the world.
Last Christmas, he reportedly flew 300 cakes by private jet from his favorite bakery in California to London for the cast and crew of the Mission: Impossible film franchise — a round trip of 5,500 miles.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 20.
SHORTEST FLIGHT: 12 minutes (Shannon to Killarney, Ireland).
CO2 EMITTED: 149.6 tons — 21.4 times the average person.
ECO BOASTS: In 2019, Tom was among the A-listers criticized for flying privately to Google’s climate change camp in 2019, a faux pas he repeated this May when he took one of his jets to the eco-friendly Cannes film festival.
* Flight data only collected since June 10.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
THE JET: One of the ‘richest sportsmen of all time’ (his career earnings top £900 million) the 45-year-old retired boxer owns a £50 million Gulfstream G650 jet called ‘Air Mayweather’.
Floyd bought it for his 41st birthday and shares images enjoying massages, haircuts and poker games aboard.
On the outside, the 12-seater jet features the boxer’s surname alongside the letters ‘TBE’ — ‘The Best Ever’.
Floyd also has a fleet of personal pilots, who wear branded uniforms with the insignia ‘TMT’ or ‘The Money Team’.
FLIGHTS TAKEN: 177 this year.
SHORTEST FLIGHT: Ten minutes (within Las Vegas).
CO2 EMITTED: 7,076.8 tons — 1,011 times the average person.
ECO BOASTS: Floyd makes flippant comments about his jet, such as: “When you live this lifestyle, you just wing it”.
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