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Rankings / Routes / Private jet vs airline seat

2025 airline figures

Private jet vs an airline seat

For every hour in the air, a passenger on an airline accounts for about 72 kg of CO2. In a private jet with four people aboard it's between 197 kg (Cirrus Vision SF50) and 1,316 kg (Gulfstream G-IV SP), which is 2.8 to 18.4 times the airline figure. With one passenger aboard, a Gulfstream G650 accounts for 4,856 kg an hour, 68 times the airline figure.

A wide-body passenger jet facing the camera on a runway at sunset
Illustrative photo, not a specific airline's aircraft.

CO2 per passenger, per hour in the air

CO2 per passenger per hour in the air: airlines and private jetsBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger for each hour in the air on average airlines, four airliner types and 6 private jets with four people aboard, plus one jet with a single passenger.020004000Airline, average72 kgAirbus A321neo52 kgBoeing 737-80068 kgBoeing 777-300ER102 kgEmbraer 175104 kgPhenom 300, 4 aboard446 kgLearjet 75, 4 aboard485 kgChallenger 350, 4 aboard724 kgFalcon 7X, 4 aboard938 kgG650, 4 aboard1214 kgGlobal 7500, 4 aboard1287 kgG650, 1 aboard4856 kg
CO2 per passenger per hour in the air: airlines and private jetsBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger for each hour in the air on average airlines, four airliner types and 6 private jets with four people aboard, plus one jet with a single passenger.020004000Airline, average72 kgAirbus A321neo52 kgBoeing 737-80068 kgBoeing 777-300ER102 kgEmbraer 175104 kgPhenom 300, 4 aboard446 kgLearjet 75, 4 aboard485 kgChallenger 350, 4 aboard724 kgFalcon 7X, 4 aboard938 kgG650, 4 aboard1214 kgGlobal 7500, 4 aboard1287 kgG650, 1 aboard4856 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger for each hour in the air. Airline figures are measured from 2025 filings; jet figures use the published fuel burn with the passengers shown. Less is better.

Why the gap is so wide

A private jet burns less fuel than an airliner. A Gulfstream G650 burns 498 gallons an hour, about half of the 951 a Boeing 737-800 burns. The difference is who shares it. The average airliner flight in 2025 had 139 passengers aboard, spread over 1,024 gallons an hour. A jet with four aboard spreads 498 gallons over four people, which is about 125 gallons per passenger-hour against 7.3 on an airline.

That's why the answer depends so much on how many people are aboard. Halving the passengers doubles the figure, so one passenger in a jet accounts for four times what each of four would. Flights that carry nobody to reposition the aircraft add fuel without adding any passengers, and aren't in these figures.

A two-hour trip

Two hours in the air is about 884 miles at the average airline speed of 442 miles an hour. On that trip a passenger on an airline accounts for about 143 kg of CO2, and a passenger in a Gulfstream G650 with four aboard about 2,428 kg.

Every jet in the table

Private jets, fuel burn and CO2 per passenger-hour
JetGallons per hourkg CO2 per hourPer passenger, 1 aboard2 aboard4 aboard4 aboard, times an airline passenger
Cirrus Vision SF50817907903951972.8
Embraer Phenom 1001131,1021,1025512753.8
Embraer Phenom 100E1131,1021,1025512753.8
Embraer Phenom 3001831,7841,7848924466.2
Embraer Phenom 300E1831,7841,7848924466.2
Bombardier Learjet 701981,9311,9319654836.7
Bombardier Learjet 751991,9401,9409704856.8
Bombardier Learjet 31A2021,9701,9709854926.9
Bombardier Learjet 452051,9991,9999995007.0
Bombardier Learjet 602192,1352,1351,0685347.5
Bombardier Learjet 45XR2272,2132,2131,1075537.7
Gulfstream G1502282,2232,2231,1125567.8
Bombardier Learjet 35A2292,2332,2331,1165587.8
Embraer Praetor 5002482,4182,4181,2096058.4
Bombardier Learjet 552522,4572,4571,2296148.6
Embraer Praetor 6002562,4962,4961,2486248.7
Gulfstream G2002782,7112,7111,3556789.5
Dassault Falcon 2000EX2842,7692,7691,3856929.7
Embraer Legacy 4502852,7792,7791,3896959.7
Gulfstream G2802862,7892,7891,3946979.7
Dassault Falcon 20002872,7982,7981,3997009.8
Embraer Legacy 5002872,7982,7981,3997009.8
Bombardier Challenger 3002952,8762,8761,43871910.0
Bombardier Challenger 3502972,8962,8961,44872410.1
Dassault Falcon 50EX3193,1103,1101,55577810.9
Bombardier Challenger 6503293,2083,2081,60480211.2
Dassault Falcon 9003353,2663,2661,63381711.4
Bombardier Challenger 8503463,3743,3741,68784311.8
Bombardier Challenger 6043583,4913,4911,74587312.2
Embraer Legacy 6503803,7053,7051,85392612.9
Dassault Falcon 7X3853,7543,7541,87793813.1
Gulfstream G5504384,2714,2712,1351,06814.9
Gulfstream G5004554,4364,4362,2181,10915.5
Bombardier Global 55004724,6024,6022,3011,15116.1
Gulfstream G6504984,8564,8562,4281,21417.0
Gulfstream G650ER5034,9044,9042,4521,22617.1
Bombardier Global 50005064,9344,9342,4671,23317.2
Bombardier Global 60005124,9924,9922,4961,24817.4
Bombardier Global 75005285,1485,1482,5741,28718.0
Bombardier Global Express XRS5325,1875,1872,5941,29718.1
Bombardier Global Express5355,2165,2162,6081,30418.2
Gulfstream G-IV SP5405,2655,2652,6331,31618.4

Where the figures come from. The airline side is measured: fuel burned and passengers carried on scheduled flights in 2025, from BTS Schedules T-2 and T-100, divided by the passengers actually aboard. The jet side isn't ours, so we checked it against a second source: the fuel burn is the average hourly figure published by Conklin & de Decker, as listed by Private Jet Card Comparisons (no data date given), which states it comes from flight manuals at recommended cruise speed and includes start, taxi and take-off fuel, two pilots and four passengers. Each gallon is 9.75 kg of CO2. Only fuel burned counts: contrails and other warming effects are left out. Jets are typically faster than airliners in cruise, so per mile their figure would be a little lower than per hour. A business-class or first-class airline seat takes more of the fuel than an economy seat, and the airline figure here is an average over all cabins. Cross-check: a second source, BlackJet (page dated 3 February 2026, citing manufacturer cruise-burn data), gives Gulfstream G650 490 gallons an hour against 498, Bombardier Global 7500 528 gallons an hour against 528, Embraer Phenom 300 183 gallons an hour against 183, all within 2% of the main table. It disagreed on the Gulfstream G450 (330 against 517), so the G350 and G450 are left out of the table. Models without a published figure, including the newest Gulfstream and Dassault jets, aren't in the table.

For how an airline flight compares with driving or the train, see flying vs driving. The airlines themselves are on the airline pages.