‘Flight shame is dead’: Concern grows over climate impact of tourism boom

Post-covid hunger for travel is taking a heavy toll on the environment amid race to net zero, say experts

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. File Picture.

For some people, summer holidays are a relaxing break from daily life, a blissful chance to hit the sunbed and lie flat for as long as humanly possible. Other people are on the hunt for new places and adventure — plummeting down a hill on the back of a bike or tied to flimsy fabric and pulled through the air. Others still are on a quest for culture, cuisine, or enlightenment — or, ideally, all three and then a nap. Travel is, most people seem to feel, amazing.

The result has been an economic boon for some parts of the world that has shifted money across oceans and into impoverished communities. But it has come at a cost to the planet that travellers have long overlooked.