Flying with British Airways can increase CO2 emissions by
up to 45 per cent per passenger when compared to rival airlines
on the same UK routes, according to a new Which? Travel
investigation.
The consumer champion chose popular international routes
from London which were well served by a variety of carriers to
compare CO2 emissions and found that on four of the six routes
included, British Airways had the worst emissions of any carrier
included in the study.
Flying has found itself at the centre of the debate on
climate change with air travel giving rise to controversial
offsetting schemes, which promise to make flights carbon
neutral.
However Which? found that passengers worried about their
carbon footprint can make much more significant reductions to
their emissions by changing who they fly with.
The snapshot analysis found that one passenger flying from
Heathrow to Miami with British Airways would be responsible for
1.13 tonnes of carbon - almost a third more than for the same
journey with Virgin Atlantic (860.9 kilos). That’s a difference
of 544 kilos of CO2 for a return journey - the equivalent of more
than two months of electricity in the average UK home.
British Airways is a flag carrier. These flag carriers tend
to have older fleets of wide-bodied aircraft, which use more
fuel. They also carry more business and first-class passengers –
who, because they are afforded more space in the cabin (resulting
in fewer passengers overall), have a larger carbon
footprint.
For business passengers on long-haul flights, this impact
is estimated to be around three times more than economy flyers.
For first-class, it’s four times.
The findings were not only a long-haul phenomenon. Which?
found a BA flight from London Stansted to Palma de Mallorca (160
kilos of CO2 per passenger) emitted nearly 50 per cent more than
the same route with Ryanair, Jet2 or Tui (109.3 kilos). On a
round trip, that’s a saving of 100 kilos – the same as leaving a
60W light bulb switched on for 161 days straight.
Last year an investigation into airline carbon emissions
uncovered that BA emits 18,000 tonnes of additional CO2 each year
by indulging in a practice designed to save money. So-called
“fuel tankering”, involves filling aircraft with extra fuel to
avoid having to refuel in destinations where prices are
higher.
In the worst case that Which? looked at, an indirect flight
from London Heathrow to Singapore with Cathay Pacific (1.7 tonnes
of CO2) produced three quarters more emissions than the same
journey with KLM (958 kilos). That’s a difference of almost 1.5
tonnes for a return journey – the same amount of CO2 expelled by
100 full tanks of diesel in an average-sized car.
This example shows that connecting in Hong Kong with Cathay
rather than Amsterdam with KLM means a couple more hours in the
air, and therefore far more carbon being expelled.
Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor, said:
“These figures show that swapping to a greener airline will
allow the many of us concerned about climate change to
immediately and significantly reduce our individual carbon
footprint.
“If millions of us were to switch to a less polluting
airline on our next holiday, it would bring pressure to bear on
the worst polluting airlines and force them to prioritise their
impact on the environment by introducing more efficient aircraft
and cleaner fuels.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
-
In October 2019, Which? asked Flyzen to compare
emissions for six routes.
-
Last November, BBC programme, Panorama exposed the
phenomenon of "fuel tankering" by airlines - in which planes
are filled with extra fuel, usually to avoid paying higher
prices for refuelling at destination airports.
