For the wedding of Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Friedrich Merz and his wife flew from Berlin to the North Sea island of Sylt in their own private plane. The CDU leader responded to criticism that he was using the wrong symbol in times of climate change and global warming with a dubious thesis.
Claim: “I use less fuel with this small plane than any official car of a member of the federal government,” said Merz in the ZDF “summer interview” that was broadcast on Sunday.
Evaluation: To put it this way, it is wrong.
Facts: Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir wrote in the direction of Merz via Twitter: “My company car is an electric car
In the fleet of the members of the federal government, the fuel consumption varies, but only in safety-relevant exceptional cases higher than the Merz plane. According to a list by the German Environmental Aid (DUH) from May 2022, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, like Özdemir, is driving a purely electric car – i.e. without fuel consumption. Because some of the hybrid vehicles owned by cabinet members Svenja Schulze and Hubertus Heil, Lisa Paus, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Volker Wissing and Marco Buschmann can run on electricity, they use an average of between 1.7 and 2.7 liters of fuel, according to the DUH to 100 kilometers.
The petrol BMW from Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz swallows 9.8 liters – all less than the Merz plane. For security reasons, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and some ministers drive heavy, armored vehicles from the Federal Criminal Police Office’s fleet. According to media reports, the Chancellor Mercedes S680 Guard, which weighs more than four tons, consumes around 18 to 20 liters per 100 kilometers.
The island is 440 kilometers away as the crow flies from Schönhagen Airport south of Berlin, from which Merz took off towards Sylt on July 8, according to radar data. With an average of 14.4 liters per 100 kilometers, that would mean consumption of around 63 liters with his plane. With a car distance of around more than 550 kilometers between the two places and a consumption of 9.8 liters (Geywitz) per 100 kilometers, it would only be just under 54 liters. If you take the reported 18 to 20 liters per 100 kilometers from Scholz’s armored car, it would probably be around 100 liters on the route.
As a member of the Bundestag, Merz, who once considered himself “among the upper middle class”, is allowed to travel by train free of charge. He would not have used a liter of fuel – but it would also have taken him significantly longer to get to Sylt. On July 11, the Diamond DA62, which now costs around one million euros, then flew from the North Sea island to Arnsberg Menden Airport in the Merz constituency of Hochsauerland.