Thursday 2 January 2020

British Airways begins offsetting UK domestic flights

 

British Airways says it is offsetting carbon emissions on all its flights within the UK, as part of the airline's commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Customers flying within the UK on flights operated by British Airways will have the carbon emissions from their flights offset by the airline and invested in verified carbon reduction projects around the world.

These, BA says, will include quality assured projects such as renewable energy, protection of rainforests and reforestation programmes.

British Airways operates up to 75 flights a day between London and 10 UK cities including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast City, Inverness and Jersey.

The airline and its parent company, IAG, say they will invest a total of $400m on alternative sustainable fuel development over the next 20 years.

Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive, said: “We know that air travel continues to grow, but we also know that our future has to be sustainable. Solving the complex issue of climate change requires a multifaceted response, and offsetting emissions on all flights within the UK is just one step that we are adopting to reduce our environmental impact while more solutions to decarbonise are found.”

Cruz added: “We continue to invest heavily in new aircraft that are 25% to 40% more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace.”