A SCOTTISH Greens plan to ban “pollution-heavy vanity trips” by private jet from Scotland’s public-owned airports was unveiled today.

The number of such flights, which are up to 30 times more polluting than commercial equivalents, has steadily grown to more than 12,000 in 2024.

In this year’s budget, the Scottish government unveiled plans to levy a tax on the flights, but now Scottish Greens have announced plans to go a step further by banning them altogether from publicly owned airports like Prestwick and Inverness.

Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said: “Private jets are one of the clearest symbols of extreme climate and wealth inequality.

“The vast majority of people in Scotland will never go near one, but we all end up suffering from the damage they are doing to our climate.

“Airports owned by the public shouldn’t be used to serve the whims of billionaires.

“Their luxury lifestyles and pollution-heavy vanity trips simply aren’t worth the damage they cause to our planet.

“Whether they are hopping between their shooting estates, mansions or superyachts, the result is the same — the public pays the price while the super-rich carry on as normal.”