Hypocrite airways: Jeff Bezos’s £48m gulf stream leads parade of 400 private jets

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos‘ £48million Gulfstream landed in Scotland last night as part of a 400-strong parade of private jets – as an extraordinary traffic jam forced empty planes to fly 30 miles to find space to park. 

Some green activists at the COP26 climate conference will be urging others to cut down on air travel and eat less meat, but apparently it is fine for billionaires to fly in on their own planes on routes already served by commercial airlines.

Meanwhile, as the super rich were whisked away into waiting limos, hundreds of less fortunate delegates were left unable to get to Glasgow after brutal storms crippled rail links, forcing some to sleep on the floor of Euston station in London. 

Conservative estimates suggest the fleet jets arriving for COP26 will blast out 13,000tonnes of carbon dioxide in total – equivalent to the amount consumed by more than 1,600 Britons in a year. 

As Boris Johnson urged leaders to back up their talk with action and warned the world is ‘one minute to midnight’, some found their own way of rising to the challenge, with Prince Albert of Monaco appearing to be among those choosing to fly private – according to an analysis of flight records by MailOnline. 

Bank of America, which in PR documents boasts of its ‘commitment to sustainability’, was the registered owner of two private jets arriving in Scotland. They are far more polluting than commercial planes, cars or trains, with the typical one belching out two tonnes of carbon dioxide every hour. 

Mr Bezos – who regularly lectures the world on climate change – arrived in Glasgow fresh from celebrating Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ 66th birthday on a £2million-a-week superyacht off the coast of Turkey in an event that generated fresh claims of hypocrisy. He reached the boat by helicopter, according to reports. 

Other private jets blasted in to Scotland from destinations including Stockholm, Rome, London and Brussels – which are all served by regular commercial routes. The majority of the planes were hired from rental firms, making it difficult to work out who was on board.

There was so much air traffic that some jets dropped off VIPs at Glasgow Airport and then flew 30 miles to nearby Prestwick due to a shortage of parking. Some also landed in Edinburgh, before presumably travelling by land. 

Boris Johnson flew in from Rome on his Union flag-embossed Airbus A321, but was stuck circling Glasgow for more than 20 minutes because of the number of jets arriving.  

He was behind the President of South Korea, who also flew in from Rome, where a G20 conference took place over the weekend. 

Yesterday, MailOnline watched from beside the runway as plane after plane carrying leaders, dignitaries, security personnel landed at Glasgow  before being ferried away by lines of SUV’s and private limousines. 

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was among the first to arrive in a delegation of 100 people on a Biman Airways jet from Dhaka.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, call sign BBC2012, had been specially commissioned to fly the Premier and her entourage to Scotland for the global gathering.

The plane burns around 5400litres of fuel an hour meaning it needed more than 64,000litres to land it at Glasgow Airport during the near-12 hour trip.

Waiting for her were scores of supporters who waved the country’s flag and unfurled banners welcoming her.

She was soon followed shortly afterwards by the President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Ghazouani whose delegation of 10 people flew in from Nouakchott on a Boeing 737 Max 8, call sign MRT001.

Egypt President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi landed on another Boeing and was surrounded by security guards as he was driven away through the rain. 

Other planes from countries not normally served by Glasgow arrived from Ukraine, Pakistan, Armenia, South Korea, Australia, India, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Angola and Palestine.

Cyprus landed an Airbus A319 landed at Glasgow Airport from Larnaca and it later shifted to the city’s second airport at Prestwick.

Adding to the massive fuel consumption on Monday will be Estonia, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Jordan, Ghana, Croatia who are all due to land jets at Glasgow Airport.

A German Air Force jet will also land at Glasgow Airport today.

The Japanese Air Force One, Air India One and Israeli Wing of Zion are also expected to arrive carrying their leaders for the summit.

President Joe Biden along will generate an estimated 2.2million pounds of carbon to reach the summit. 

The gigantic carbon footprint is comprised of 2.16 million pounds of carbon dioxide generated by the four large planes that comprise his airborne entourage on the trip to Italy and Scotland, where the president will speak at the COP26 summit on change in Glasgow, with the remainder emitted by Biden’s cars.

His fleet is comprised of the heavily modified Boeing 747 he travels on, known as Air Force One when the president is on board, an identical decoy, and two huge C-17 Globemaster planes to carry his battalion of cars and helicopters.

One airport source told MailOnline: ‘It doesn’t make sense to have all these extra planes landing in Scotland. They are only adding to the problem by flying all these planes in when it’s quite easy to stay home and chat.

‘We have all learned about Zoom calls and how efficient they are and can stop the need for people to travel. I don’t get why all these planes have to fly these leaders and their people in.

‘They could have just as well held video conferences and invited everybody, politicians and public, to join in. The sight of these planes landing is a very negative image against their messages against climate change.’

But today, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted it was not possible to hold such a major conference over a video call. 

She told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think everyone who’s ever done a Zoom call knows that they are quite useful for some things but when you really get into crunch negotiations and want to look somebody in the eye and talk to them face to face you do need to meet in person. 

‘World leaders are going to have to make some tough decisions and commit to things they didn’t necessarily want to when they arrived at the conference and that’s why it’s really important to have people face to face to allow these negotiations to take place.’ 

Matt Finch, of the Transport and Environment campaign group, told the Sunday Record: ‘The average private jet, and we are not talking Air Force One, emits two tons of CO2 for every hour in flight. 

‘It can’t be stressed enough how bad private jets are for the environment, it is the worst way to travel by miles. Our research has found that most journeys could easily be completed on scheduled flights.’ 

MailOnline has contacted Bank of America for comment.  

What a load of hot air! Joe Biden is blasted for making 10,000 mile return trip that’ll generate 2.2 MILLION pounds of carbon to attend CLIMATE CHANGE summit in Scotland after president was snapped in gas-guzzling 85-car motorcade in Rome

By Ronny Reyes for Dailymail.com  

President Joe Biden will generate an estimated 2.2 million pounds of carbon during his trip to Europe to speak on the perils of climate change.  

The gigantic carbon footprint is comprised of 2.16 million pounds of carbon dioxide generated by the four large planes that comprise his airborne entourage on the trip to Italy and Scotland, where the president will speak at the COP26 summit on change in Glasgow, with the remainder emitted by Biden’s cars. 

His fleet is comprised of the heavily modified Boeing 747 he travels on, known as Air Force One when the president is on board, an identical decoy, and two huge C-17 Globemaster planes to carry his battalion of cars and helicopters.

Those jets each belch out an average of 54 pounds of carbon per mile flown. An average American would generate 0.365 pounds of carbon for if they flew a similar distance – just under 10,000 miles – on a regular scheduled flight. 

Biden’s Cadillac ‘Beast,’ a 20,000 pound armored limousine that only gets around 8 mpg, was surrounded by dozens of slow moving cars as he pulled into the courtyard of the Vatican for his meeting with Pope Francis on Friday. It generates an estimated 8.75 pounds of carbon per mile driven – 10 times more than the average car, with two Beasts – the official vehicle and a decoy – forming part of his entourage. 

The motorcade was 85-cars long, due to Italian COVID-19 rules, which only allow three non-cohabiting people – including the driver – per vehicle. As well as the Beast, it was comprised of gas-guzzling Chevrolet Suburban SUVs, and famously thirsty Alfa Romeo cars driven by Italian police. It would have generated around 73.5 pounds of carbon per mile driven.

The trip from Villa Taverna to Vatican City is 4.34 miles long, meaning the total amount of carbon generated by the Beast and its entourage was 373 pounds for that short visit to see Pope Francis where, ironically, the president and leader of the Catholic Church discussed climate change.  Biden has been criticized for the largesse on social media, although the White House insists there is no other alternative to ensure the president is safe from any potential threat while traveling, 

After Biden arrived in Rome on Thursday aboard Air Force One, his team arrived in Scotland on Friday, and separate military jets were used to haul in The Beast and the president’s Marine One helicopter, along with scores of security personnel. 

The Beast and Air Force One have long been criticised by some Americans of not being ‘green enough,’ with the later costing more than $200,000 an hour to operate, Business Insider reported. 

The Air Force One jets, which went into service in 1990, are due to be replaced by two greener new replacements in 2024, but they’ll still represent an extremely environmentally-unfriendly means of travel. 

The Beast itself weighs around 20,000 pounds, sports a 5-litre diesel engine and gets about 8 mpg. 

Many were quick to point out the hypocrisy as Biden, a vocal advocate for preventing climate change, touts such a gas-guzzling entourage of vehicles during a trip primarily scheduled for a climate chance conference. 

‘Climate change and worries while jetting setting around the globe. Carbon footprint, you say! Hypocrite,’ wrote a Twitter user with the handle name Yellowstoneave. 

Another Twitter user with name Snowwhite wrote, ‘Joe Biden arrives at the Vatican City on Airforce One followed by gas guzzling Chevrolets & outriders. What climate change emergency?’ 

A Twitter user with the handle Hil..n also called Biden a hypocrite. 

‘Jump on ur helicopter then onto ur jumbo jet and lecture us about climate change.’

Biden has fled tanking approval ratings at home and partisan in-fighting over his $1.75trillon spending bill to travel to Rome, where he is set to meet with leaders from the G20 group of wealthy nations for a two-day summit.

It is the first face-to-face summit of the G20 since COVID struck, and Biden will be hoping to use it to repair his international reputation following his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that frustrated his allies and drew unfavorable comparisons with predecessor Donald Trump.

It also comes just two days ahead of the start of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow that will be hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.