IAG - Flight Path Net Zero

Airline group IAG has committed to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 going further than most airlines where the benchmark is only a 50% cut.

As 2050 is still much longer than most environmental groups demand (e.g. Extinction Rebellion lobbies for zero net emissions by 2025), IAG has set up two intermediary targets:

To have a modest 10% reduction in CO2 per passenger kilometre by 2025, and to have a 20% reduction in net CO2 by 2030.

At the same time, British Airways has committed to offset all its domestic UK flights from 2020.

IAG has produced a video on its sustainability page outlining the initiative, though curiously, it has not shared it more widely on its social media channels.

IAG and British Airways who claims to be environmentally responsible did take a knock when the media took a critical look at the practice of ‘fuel tankering’ - where planes are filled with extra fuel to avoid more expensive refuelling charges.

The BBC’s Panorama programme discovered that BA generated an extra 18,000 tonnes of fuels due to this practice.

However, BA is not the only airline to engage in fuel tankering. Quartz calls it, ‘A common cost-saving practice of airlines trashes the planet in the process.’