London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – London Mayor Sadiq Khan and his team flew 473,000 air miles over eight years, producing 43 tonnes of carbon while attending international events.
Sir Sadiq Khan has flown a distance nearly equivalent to a round trip to the moon through his international climate summit travels.
How many air miles has Sadiq Khan flown with his team?
Over the past eight years, Sir Sadiq Khan has travelled more than 73,000 miles abroad for international events linked to his Ulez expansion efforts.
The mayor and his team covered 473,000 air miles, emitting 43.6 tonnes of carbon across 13 international flights. This distance is roughly equal to flying 19 times around the Earth’s equator, or nearly one full trip to the moon and back.
In total, 70 seats were purchased for international travel, equivalent to filling a single ATR 72, used for short-haul flights. The delegation included eight staff members who accompanied Mr Khan to New York last September, where he served as co-Chair of C40 Cities at a global climate conference.
Data from 2023-2024 revealed London’s mayor travelled with 23 staff members on trips to New York, Rome, and Paris, including two linked to climate issues.
In 2017, Mr Khan travelled to India and Pakistan with seven staff, spending around £21,000 and logging over 66,000 air miles. Figures reveal that in 2016, Mr Khan and a seven-member staff flew to Canada and the US, covering over 56,000 air miles at a cost exceeding £32,000.
Mr Khan’s total flight carbon footprint would require planting 1,350 to 2,000 trees within a year to offset emissions. The carbon emissions from his trips equal what half of Hyde Park’s trees would photosynthesise annually.
Mr Khan travelled to New York in 2023 with five aides, covering 41,500 air miles for the UN climate summit. In 2024, he and his team of four flew almost 9,000 air miles to attend a climate summit in Rome.
The mayor’s flight emissions were reviewed by The Telegraph with the UN’s ICAO carbon calculator. They calculated multi-destination trips by totalling each leg and selecting the most logical airports. All flights were assumed to begin at Heathrow.
Sadiq Khan’s views on Heathrow expansion and reducing carbon emissions
Sir Sadiq Khan reiterated his opposition to Heathrow’s third runway in June 2023, stating, “We don’t want more flights.”
In January 2025, he stated
“I remain opposed to a new runway at Heathrow Airport because of the severe impact it will have on noise, air pollution and meeting our climate change targets.”
Mr Khan added, “I’m simply not convinced that you can have hundreds of thousands of additional flights at Heathrow every year without a hugely damaging impact on our environment.”
In 2023, when questioned about private jets, he responded,
“Frequent air travellers should consider firstly whether a particular journey is needed at all and, if so, to take the lowest carbon options wherever possible.”
Mr Khan has repeatedly urged Londoners to cut carbon emissions to protect the planet.
Addressing the launch of his plan to address pollution in 2016, he stated,
“With nearly 10,000 people dying early every year in London due to exposure to air pollution, cleaning up London’s toxic air is now an issue of life and death.”
The mayor revealed plans to expand Ulez across Greater London in 2022. In August 2023, Mr Khan added,
“What about outer London? Why shouldn’t they breathe clean air? Why should they carry on dying prematurely in numbers that could be reversed?”
What did Victoria Atkins say about ‘Climate Khan’ and his air travel?
Victoria Atkins, the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, stated,
“Anyone who lives, works, or visits London knows how it has become one giant traffic jam under Sadiq Khan.”
She said,
“In a textbook example of Left-wing hypocrisy, ‘Climate Khan’ is happy to close roads, drive up costs for drivers and waste our time in jams, whilst preaching net zero from the comfort of his many plane journeys.”
Ms Atkins added,
“After a crushing week of Labour’s latest union strikes, The Telegraph’s expose will enrage people who have had to battle this week to get to school, work, hospital and live their lives. As London Mayor, he should stop preaching net zero whilst jetting off to fancy conferences and do his day job of getting our capital city moving.”
Sadiq Khan’s spokesman’s views on his international trips
A spokesman for the Mayor of London stated,
“The mayor has made 16 international visits by plane, compared to 34 visits by plane made by Boris Johnson when mayor. Sadiq makes no apology for banging the drum for the capital overseas to promote growth and to generate new trade, investment and cultural links.”
Key facts about Heathrow expansion
Heathrow’s expansion adds a 3,500m runway and new terminals, raising flights to 756,000 and passengers to 150 million. The project costs £49 billion.
Environmental concerns include 5.92 million tonnes more CO₂ and noise affecting 300,000 people. Legal challenges are expected even after approval.