Business executives should be more economical with their company's corporate travel budgets for the sake of shareholders, but also for the sake of the environment, the founder of budget airline EasyJet wrote in the Financial Times on Monday. "Despite the fact that climate change dominated the agenda in Davos this year, I did not detect any abatement in the use of private jets by moguls who gathered there to save the world," Stelios Haji-Ioannou wrote in the business daily.
"Being frugal with shareholders' money when it comes to corporate travel is, by an amazing coincidence, better for the environment too."
Haji-Ioannou threw his backing behind a global emissions trading scheme that included the world's airlines, but added that business executives should give more thought to the way they travel as part of their work.
"Executives should realise that flying on premium class on short-haul flights is expensive on the corporate budget as well as the environment — and for very little actual benefit," he wrote.
"Should people really be driving 4x4s when a 'smart car' would do the job? And wouldn't the train work just as well for day-to-day commuting?"
"The underlying theme here is that being economical with the travel budget equals being economical with the planet's resources."
