Carbon offsetting Do consumers buy it? In 2017, an academic study found that one third of airlines were offering carbon offsetting programmes to their passengers. Since then, that number has certainly increased.
easyJet. On November 19th, the airline announced that it would be the first major carrier to offset the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all of its flights on behalf of all of its customers. This goes further than the announcement by British Airways in October, that carbon emissions would be automatically offset on domestic BA flights from 2020. easyJet’s carbon offsetting projects are either Gold Standard or VCS (Verified Carbon Standard accredited) - two industry verification programmes. The initiative will benefit forest conservation projects in Africa and South America, renewable energy programmes in India and community based clean water programmes in Eritrea and Uganda. The announcement also carried an endorsement from a leading UK environmentalist, Jonathon Porritt. Crucially, the announcement that it would be offsetting carbon emissions for every single flight was positioned as part of an overall package of measures, which included an announcement about an MOU with Airbus to research hybrid and electric aircraft. At the same time, easyJet is continuing to work with Wright Electric on the develop-
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ment of an electric aircraft.
Airline Marketing Monthly | December 2019
The latest airline to go big in this area is
