>Last November a journey by private jet taking Michel and his entourage to Beijing to meet China’s leader, Xi Jinping, cost €460,000; only Michel’s €32,895 travel costs were publicly declared. At the time, some senior EU diplomats raised eyebrows at the trip, as Michel travelled without the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who oversees EU law and trade deals that could affect China.
and
>Michel flew from Brussels to Paris in February for a meeting on combating terrorism in the Sahel, at a cost of €4,379 (£3,867), rather than take the frequently running fast train service that connects the cities in a 1hr 22min journey. He routinely uses private jets, which are up to [14 times more polluting for each passenger than commercial flights](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/flying-shame-the-scandalous-rise-of-private-jets), for his trips to the European parliament’s second seat in Strasbourg, with costs ranging from €1,283 to €9,049 for his return-trip ticket alone. […] the total cost of the private jet to the Paris dinner to discuss the Sahel was €35,750 […] once the charges for Michel’s entourage were factored in.
Michel pissed of a lot of people by his actions. I expect a looot of dirty laundry to show up.
Can anyone play devil’s advocate and tell me why he should fly a private jet instead of flying first class on a regular flight?
3 comments
>Last November a journey by private jet taking Michel and his entourage to Beijing to meet China’s leader, Xi Jinping, cost €460,000; only Michel’s €32,895 travel costs were publicly declared. At the time, some senior EU diplomats raised eyebrows at the trip, as Michel travelled without the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who oversees EU law and trade deals that could affect China.
and
>Michel flew from Brussels to Paris in February for a meeting on combating terrorism in the Sahel, at a cost of €4,379 (£3,867), rather than take the frequently running fast train service that connects the cities in a 1hr 22min journey. He routinely uses private jets, which are up to [14 times more polluting for each passenger than commercial flights](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/flying-shame-the-scandalous-rise-of-private-jets), for his trips to the European parliament’s second seat in Strasbourg, with costs ranging from €1,283 to €9,049 for his return-trip ticket alone. […] the total cost of the private jet to the Paris dinner to discuss the Sahel was €35,750 […] once the charges for Michel’s entourage were factored in.
Michel pissed of a lot of people by his actions. I expect a looot of dirty laundry to show up.
Can anyone play devil’s advocate and tell me why he should fly a private jet instead of flying first class on a regular flight?