Amid flygskaming, aviation and industry partners must respond

THE selection of Greta Thunberg as Time magazine's Person of the Year could not have been greeted with much joy within the global aviation community.

After all, it was the Swedish teenage activist who has helped popularise flygskam (or flight-shame) to essentially force potential air travellers into contemplating other modes of transport instead.

The impact has been significant in Europe, and especially Sweden where 23 per cent of Swedes travelled by air in 2018. Airport operator Swedavia has reportedly seen a 10 per cent fall in passenger numbers across its 10 airports in that year. It is a matter of time before the trend spreads to the rest of Western Europe.