Airline boss calls for business class to be scrapped to cut carbon emissions

Business class flying should be scrapped to cut carbon emissions, according to the boss of Luton Airport's largest airline.

Business class in the Airbus A380

Jozsef Varadi, chief executive of low-cost carrier Wizz Air, claimed carrying passengers in premium cabins was outdated.

He said: "Business class should be banned. These passengers account for twice the carbon footprint of an economy passenger and the industry is guilty of preserving an inefficient and archaic model.

"A rethink is long overdue and we call on fellow airlines to commit to a total ban on business class travel for any flight under five hours."

An airplane travelling through British airspace

Wizz Air says it operates at the lowest cardon dioxide (CO2) emissions per passenger among its competitors and expects to reduce its figure by 30 per cent over the next decade.

Airlines rely on business class travellers for a substantial portion of their profits as the tickets can cost several times more than those in economy.

The middle seats in its Club Europe cabins are kept free, increasing the comfort of passengers, but reducing their aircrafts' capacity.

This summer, Wizz Air overtook easyJet in having the most seats available to passengers flying from Luton.

The airport is also the UK's busiest for private jet flights.

It emerged last week the Labour Party is considering banning private jets from 2025 if it wins the general election.