Turkey flies to Hamburg for European Championship match: clear criticism

Air traffic - Turkey flies to Hamburg for European Championship match: clear criticism

Environmental activists sharply criticize the Turkish national team for their travel by charter plane to their last EM group game. Turkey flew with a charter flight from Hannover to Hamburg on Wednesday for their match against the Czech Republic. The two cities are approximately 150 kilometers apart. The European Football Union (UEFA) had declared the tournament as the most sustainable EM ever.

"This is completely senseless and unnecessary," criticized Werner Reh, transport expert at the Federal Association for Environment and Nature Protection Germany (BUND), of the short flight. The CO2 balance is ten to twenty times worse than a train journey, said Reh. He could not explain why the responsible parties chose the plane for such a short distance.

Schwartz: "Absolutely unacceptable"

René Schwartz, spokesperson for the Citizens' Initiative for the Reduction of Air Traffic in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (BAW), described the flight as "absolutely unacceptable."

In Hamburg, fans were not even allowed to drive to the stadium with an electric car, according to Schwartz. There is a car ban around the stadium. Therefore, it is so absurd that the Turkish team is traveling to the game by plane.

"Nations must also be held accountable during the tournament," demanded Schwartz. It cannot be that there is such a large requirement catalog in terms of sustainability for the cities if national teams can take the plane for such a short distance.

1. The environmental activists in Germany, including Werner Reh and René Schwartz, harshly criticized the Turkish national soccer team for using a charter plane for their travel to the last EM group game in Hannover and then to Hamburg.
2. The European Football Union (UEFA) had declared the current EM tournament as the most sustainable ever, yet the Turkish team's mode of transport went against this claim.
3. Werner Reh, a transport expert at the Federal Association for Environment and Nature Protection Germany (BUND), stated that the CO2 balance from the short flight was ten to twenty times worse than a train journey.
4. René Schwartz, spokesperson for the Citizens' Initiative for the Reduction of Air Traffic in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (BAW), described the flight as "absolutely unacceptable."
5. In Hamburg, there was a car ban around the stadium, preventing fans from driving with an electric car, according to Schwartz, which made it absurd that the Turkish team could travel by plane for a short distance.
6. Schwartz demanded that nations must also be held accountable during the tournament, as it was unacceptable that there is such a large requirement catalog in terms of sustainability for the cities while national teams can take the plane for such a short distance.
7. The Turkish national team's flight from Hanover to Hamburg on Wednesday for their match against the Czech Republic added to the debate about air traffic and its impact on the environment.
8. Environmentalists in Lower Saxony and Berlin are calling for stricter regulations on air traffic, following the Turkish national team's flight, which went against the pursuit of a sustainable EM as declared by UEFA.

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