FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Dozens Of Private Jets At The UN’s COP26?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Facebook over 100 times allegedly shows dozens of private jets at the United Nations climate summit known as COP26.

Verdict: False

The photo, taken in 2013, actually shows planes at a New Orleans airport for Super Bowl XLVII.

Fact Check:

President Joe Biden and other world leaders recently traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to discuss combating climate change at the U.N.’s Climate Change Conference, according to The Washington Post. Social media users have since started sharing a photo of numerous aircraft on a tarmac, claiming it shows “400 private jets used by world ‘leaders’ to get to #COP26.”

However, Check Your Fact traced the picture using a reverse image search and found it is unrelated to the climate change summit. The photo actually depicts aircraft parked at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport in 2013 for Super Bowl XLVII, in which the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-31. Aviation International News Online, which reports on the aviation industry, published the image in a Feb. 5, 2013, article.

“Nearly 700 business jets flocked to New Orleans Lakefront Airport for the biggest sporting event of the year,” reads Aviation International News Online’s caption for the photo. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Kamala Harris Staging Boarding An Airplane Using A Green Screen?)

Over 70,000 people attended Super Bowl XLVII, according to The Verge. Aviation International News Online reported New Orleans-area airports hosted more than 800 private aircraft for the game.

Some COP26 attendees did, according to Business Insider, travel via private jet or chartered plane to the climate conference. One report from the Sunday Mail said aviation sources put the number of private planes arriving at the summit around 400.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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