Ant and Decs Saturday Night Takeaway blasted for flying empty planes

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While hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly awaited the final live show of the series, Saturday Night Takeaway and ITV came under fire after the show flew empty planes over the Atlantic for the series finale. ITV has been labelled “hypocritical” after advocating for environmentally-friendly policies.

Ant and Dec flew lucky fans to Universal Orlando in the concluding episode of the popular series.

However, it’s been reported that an empty passenger jet flew back to Heathrow the following day.

Additionally, it’s believed another empty plane jetted off from London in order to pick up guests and crew.

This means the British Airways airliner travelled more than 8,000 miles with no guests on board in total.

The move has sparked controversy for both ITV and Britsh Airways, who in the past have spoken out about their focus on sustainability.

A source has deemed the eco-storm an “environmental disaster”.

Speaking to The Sun, they stated: “While the planet is heating up, it’s incredible anyone would allow a huge plane to be flown empty across the Atlantic. It’s environmentally irresponsible.”

An ITV spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “Our partnership with British Airways Holidays covers the outbound and inbound flight that seats all our place on the plane winners and crew.

“ITV shows aims to achieve the highest standards of sustainability both on and off screen and our efforts have been recognised by achieving BAFTA’s ‘albert Certification’ standard which is the TV industry standard kitemark for sustainability in the UK and is a requirement for all ITV shows.”

The broadcaster claims to have strict policies to protect the environment.

Since the United Nations Climate Change Conference Cop26, ITV staple This Morning has been broadcasting from their own forest, and soaps are also raising awareness of climate change.

ITV has also shared that it wants zero waste by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

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A British Airways Holidays spokesperson said: “We’re pleased to have partnered with ITV and we purchased sustainable aviation fuel to mitigate the emissions associated with the charter flights operated as part of this trip.

“We returned the aircraft to London and subsequently back to Orlando to continue flights for our customers over the busy Easter period and in addition, we offered cargo space on these flights.”

Ant and Dec’s series was also slammed back in February over environmental issues.

One episode saw the use of balloons on the show, which several viewers pointed out was bad for the environment.

Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway can be watched on ITV Hub.

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