Photo Credit: The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0
Drake faces backlash for taking a 14-minute flight in his private jet — from Toronto to nearby Hamilton.
A new report by The Guardian revealed celebrities including Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and Mark Wahlberg taking short flights in their private jets — earning criticism from environmentalists over the costly amount of emissions per person. Among them was the alleged 14-minute flight from Toronto to Hamilton in Ontario that Drake’s Boeing 767 recently flew.
Drake took to the comments on Real Toronto Newz‘s Instagram post to respond to the criticism. He claimed that the plane was empty at the time and the flight was required to return the aircraft to its hangar for routine maintenance.
“This is just them moving planes to whatever airport they are being stored at for anyone who was interested in the logistics,” wrote Drake. “Nobody takes that flight.”
Drake’s $200 million “Air Drake” is listed in The Guardian exposé as the biggest offender in CO2 emissions, and thus environmentalists have continued to criticize him.
“Drake is part of the problem, taking multiple 15-minute flights to Hamilton and back while the environment is collapsing. Dude, take the GO train ffs,” tweets writer and filmmaker Jesse Hawken.
“Canadians will complain about climate change then pay thousands to go to the next Drake concert, acting like he isn’t taking his private jet on flights from Hamilton to Toronto,” technology reporter Temur Durrani tweets.
Another musician criticized in The Guardian article was country singer Kenny Chesney, who took a 20-minute flight between Pittsburgh and Akron, Ohio.
Collectively, private aircraft emit more greenhouse gases than the country of Denmark.
Because they carry so few passengers, they are five to fourteen times more polluting than commercial planes per passenger and 50 times more polluting than trains.
“These short flights have emissions that are small in relative terms but per person they are staggering,” says Nikita Pavlenko, fuels team lead at the International Council on Clean Transportation. “Aviation emissions are growing exponentially year over year and private jet pollution is growing more than general aviation.”
“As for celebrities,” concludes Pavlenko, “they need to set a positive example and ditch the planes.”