Expedia Group has been busy shedding non-core brands and trying to simplify operations, so why did it just expand a travel agent affiliate program from North America into 21 new countries in the Caribbean, 16 in Europe, 13 in Latin America, and three in the Middle East?

The company announced the expansion of its longtime Travel Agent Affiliate Program Tuesday. From 15,000 travel agencies in the program in 2011, to more than 35,000 today, the program isn’t exactly shattering growth records. Expedia’s affiliate program counts more than 100,000 agents, the company said.

But while leisure travel agency bookings aren’t likely financially material for the $15 billion company — its market cap has dropped off a cliff since February — Expedia Group’s business to business segment is.

The Expedia Travel Agent Affiliate Program is part of the company’s business-to-business segment, which generated close to $1.5 billion in 2021 revenue. And Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern sees expanding its affiliate business, which includes not only leisure travel agencies but also travel management companies, airlines, retailers and banks, as a key strategic priority.

The affiliate business seems to be a much larger one for Expedia Group than for Booking Holdings, which is trying to play catch-up, and recently began powering a T-Mobile travel portal.

As part of its announcement, Expedia Group said it has become an American Society of Travel Advisors Silver Level Proud Partner. Expedia has been an ASTA premium member, which currently requires a $2,000 annual fee, since 2000. But joining the Silver Level Proud Partner tier means ASTA also treats Expedia as it would a supplier, and the company would spend around $40,000 annually to market to U.S. travel advisors, an ASTA spokesperson said.

Expedia announced several promotional and limited-time offers, including higher commissions on select hotels, for affiliate program members in Canada, Europe, UK, Mexico and the U.S., as well as the ability for U.S. travel advisors to offer 15 percent discounts on hotels worldwide from July 6 to August 7.

Travel agencies that belong to the Expedia affiliate program can book vacation rentals, hotels, flights, packages, car rentals and activities. They can even — in a way — earn commissions on airline bookings, which tend to come with zero commissions. If Expedia affiliates book a vacation package that includes a flight they’ll get a commission on the entire trip cost, including the flight.

It remains to be seen whether leisure travel agents will be big business for Expedia, but the company has enough confidence in the idea to expand the program into 53 new markets.

Source: Skift

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has granted landing rights to Uganda Airlines at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), which would be the first direct flight from Uganda to China since the pandemic. 

Uganda Airlines took to Twitter to announce it has secured landing slots at Guangzhou Airport, located in the Chinese Province of Guangdong in Southern China. 

The CAAC addressed a letter to the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA), accepting the resumption of scheduled passenger flights between China and Uganda, according to a report published by local media firm, UBC. 

The UBC report also stated that Uganda was granted permission to operate up to one weekly flight to any point in China except Beijing and Shanghai.  

The Entebbe-based flag carrier will operate services to China with its fleet of Airbus A330 Neos, according to a tweet from the Government of Uganda. 

In a report published by the Monitor, Shakira Rahim, a spokesperson for Uganda Airlines, confirmed that the service will be the first direct flight from Uganda to China post-COVID.  

“Currently, there is no direct flight from Entebbe to China, which brings an amazing opportunity to tap into this gap. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were more than 25,000 passengers from China to Uganda, according to 2019 travel data,” said Rahim. 

Uganda Airlines will look to expand its cargo operations, which it commenced in September 2021, Rahim added.  

“The business case for China is progressive, there has been a lot of trade and business transactions between the two countries,” the Monitor cited Rahim as saying.  

However, Rahim said that the airline is yet to receive a permit from the CAAC to fly to the airport because it has not yet submitted its route plan to the CAAC. 

Uganda Airlines operates a fleet of four CRJ-900s on its intra-African route networks and two A330-800neos on its long-haul services, which includes four weekly flights to Dubai from its hub in Entebbe.  

However, the airline has plans to expand its long-haul operations to the United Kingdom, India, and Saudi Arabia. Uganda Airlines expects to launch operations to London and Guangzhou before the end of the 2022/2023 fiscal year, according to Matia Kasaija, Minister of Finance in Uganda’s Cabinet in a report published by The Independent. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

The pandemic may be fading in many markets, but the Ukraine crisis is a reminder that volatility in travel demand is here to stay. Airlines, hotels, and cruise lines need to draw faster insights from their data to thrive.

Volatility in travel demand signals will remain long after the pandemic wanes. That’s according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which argues that airlines, hotel chains, and cruise lines need to draw faster insights from their data.

“History is no longer necessarily a lens to the future,” said Jason Guggenheim, global head of travel at BCG’s travel and tourism practice. Innovative companies need ways to see the future with more clarity in a world that is more volatile.

This analysis echos one of Skift’s megatrends defining travel in 2022, which was that “uncertainty is the new certainty.” Companies that are flexible with a greater diversity of business lines will perform the best against unknowns, we argued.

The consultancy’s specific point is that the pandemic made classic revenue management practices less reliable.

“We’re seeing people move from ‘can I predict demand?’ to ‘can I sense demand?’,” Guggenheim said in a new podcast last week. “Management teams and leaders have to look for signals that are far weaker and maybe in some cases not even related to the industry they’re in.”

Tuning in to Hear Subtle Shifts in Demand

The pandemic’s disruption was unprecedentedly severe, but it wasn’t just a one-off. The knock-on effects of the surprise Russian invasion of Ukraine have once again upended the traditional ways companies use to predict supply and demand trends to set pricing for different customer segments.

Looking long-term, climate change will have an unpredictable impact on travel demand. This dynamic was underscored by Microsoft’s announcement last week that it would more stringently cap the company’s contributions to carbon emissions — with business travel an implied target for restraint.

Higher volatility presents an opportunity to travel companies that are more nimble at spotting and responding to signals that predict shifts in demand. The consultancy has touted what it calls “bionic revenue management,” which it describes as a blend of computer-generated predictions with human judgment and an analysis of historical, forward-looking, and non-travel market signals. It also touts the use of data lakes, or customer data platforms.

Operational planning need to be faster, too. Guggenheim cited the example of airlines. In the past, airlines might have taken up to 180 days in advance to plan their networks, schedule flights, and assign fleets. But given the increasing volatility, airlines need to be able to toggle supply up and down much faster.

Across travel verticals, data-savvy can give a company a hedge in cases of volatility, widening a performance gap with its rivals.

“Companies need to be more reactive without human brute force,” Guggenheim said, urging businesses to fine-tune their workflows. “Historically, when a change was needed, it took a lot of human hands to push that change through the businesses, such as for repositioning aircraft or ships. Now with the use of technology, you can become less reliant on a lot of people making things happen.”

Source: Skift

Africa’s aviation recovery is well underway, and traffic in the region is picking up fast. International traffic is rebounding, although not to the same extent as domestic, and airlines are busy once more. Despite a later reopening than some parts of the world, African aviation is on course to recover to 2019 levels within the next 18 months, all being well.

Speaking to Jon Howell, CEO of AviaDev, for his Africa Insight podcast, Geert Lemaire, market intelligence and consulting director at Airbus, shone a light on the planemaker’s outlook for the region, and its demand for airplanes. One airplane from the Airbus stable is a clear front runner for new orders, and it’s the post-pandemic golden child, the Airbus A220.

Africa is set for significant growth

Airbus’s latest market outlook, issued in November last year, anticipates a recovery for the African air transport market in late 2023. From there, it’s all up, as the planemaker projects annual growth of traffic of 4%. To support this growth, Airbus believes 1,100 new planes will be needed in Africa, just 30% of which will be replacements for existing aircraft, while 70% will go towards growth.

In terms of what airplanes will be needed, Airbus has been firm in its outlook. Over 800 of the 1,100 new airplanes will be in the ‘small’ aircraft category – that is, aircraft of 100 – 220 seats. That’s all of the A320 family of jets, as well as the Airbus A220.

Driving this growth is the move in Africa to adopt a more open and freer environment. Free trade, free movement of people and the ever-elusive Single African Air Transport Market (SAATAM) will bolster demand, as will rising populations, GDP and wealth in many African countries.

Discussing where growth will happen, Lemaire noted,

“There’s two kinds of growth … we have, first of all, organic growth, which is simply the growth of the networks as they exist today – traffic picking up on the routes that are already served. Next to that, and where we actually see a significant potential, especially for the A220, is indeed the creation of new routes.”

Unserved city pairs

Airbus does much research into where there is the potential for more aviation activity. Part of this research looks at unserved connections, where passenger demand already exists but is not served by a direct flight.

Lemaire sees a huge amount of this in Africa, particularly in regional flying, with pre-COVID intra-African connectivity hovering at about 12% of the overall traffic contribution. By 2040, Airbus believes this will rise to 20%, and it’s these unserved city pairs that will drive that increase.

“What we typically find is, indeed, city pairs connecting cities in South Africa to West Africa, between South Africa and the eastern part of Africa, and also to a smaller extent between West Africa and North Africa. So we have city pairs, for instance, Johannesburg to Abidjan, Cape Town to Accra, Cape Town to Lagos, Cape Town to Zanzibar – to just name a couple of them – which clearly show the potential for the development of future direct routes, but that, unfortunately, today are not served yet.”

In the past, routes calling for six hours in the sky typically attracted the widebody segment, in a bid to give passengers more comfort on the long flight. But these unserved city pairs do not have the demand level to support a 300+ seat aircraft.

Airbus believes that the A220 is the perfect fit for launching some of these underserved routes, and connecting these in-demand city pairs in a logical, step-by-step manner. Lemaire noted,

“[The A220s] have the performance to serve these kinds of routes. They have definitely the comfort onboard, because the comfort you find on an A220 is typically what you get a widebody aircraft, or even better. As such, we certainly have a lot of opportunities to open these routes. You don’t have a massive capacity, and you can serve these routes on a decent frequency.”

Lemaire mentioned the ‘route planner’s mantra’, which is to add frequency before increasing capacity. When the time does come to increase capacity, he believes the pairing of the A220-100 and the A220-300 will allow African operators to scale up in a gradual, manageable way.

To hear more from Airbus and other OEMs on the future of African aviation, don’t miss the AviaDev Africa Route Development Conference 2022. Taking place in Cape Town from June 29th to July 1st, this is the sixth edition of the conference where airlines and airports get together to collaborate and make changes for a better-connected Africa. Head to the website for more information.

Source: Simple Flying

If you feel like everyone is on vacation without you right now, you might be right.

The data shows travel is surging — despite high plane-ticket prices — as many countries loosen their COVID-19 restrictions and reopen borders.

Analysts say vacation-starved Americans are making up for lost time during the pandemic, and there’s even a new term for it: revenge travel.

Here’s what’s happening and what you should know if you want to join in.

What do the numbers show?

The short answer is that everything is going up lately: airfares, fuel costs and trips taken.

Travel insurance company Allianz Partners analyzed more than 40,000 trip itineraries planned for this summer and concluded that American travel to Europe will jump 600% from last year.

This sharp uptick is not limited to Europe. This month during an industry conference, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said that “demand is off the charts,” while the airline industry is struggling to keep up.

This boom is yet another consumer reaction to the pandemic, said Steve Trent, a research analyst for Citi who focuses on airline travel.

“Maybe 18 months ago, everybody wanted to buy a Peloton because people were still locked up, and now we’re kind of in a different phase of the pandemic,” he said, noting that infection rates were rising but hospitalizations hadn’t reached the levels of previous waves.

So now, people are buying airline tickets.

“There’s a shift from consumers purchasing goods to consumers purchasing services.”

He said the data shows the prices of tickets sold so far for this July were 35% higher than tickets sold in July 2019 (the last summer before the pandemic started). Meanwhile, the industry as a whole isn’t operating at the same level as it was before the pandemic. Fewer flight routes, fewer crew members and less equipment mean that capacity is down 15%, Trent said.

What exactly is “revenge travel”?

There’s no dictionary definition yet, but industry professionals say the term “revenge travel” is starting to catch on.

They broadly describe revenge travel as a huge increase in people wanting to make up for time and experiences lost to the pandemic.

Eric Hrubant, the owner of CIRE Travel, a luxury travel agency in New York City, said that while the idea of travel as revenge didn’t necessarily resonate with him, he saw it more as an attitude within the customers.

It’s a proclamation of “Screw you, COVID, I can travel and I’m going to,” he said. In his own words, Hrubant describes it as “revenge against ‘rona.”

If travelers have any animosity, it might be toward the idea of staying home this summer. Hrubant, who has been in business for nine years, said the past few months have been the busiest he has ever seen, given the mix of limited staff, limited contacts abroad and plenty of new customers.

What should you keep in mind?

If you’re one of those people who wants to get out and see the world, Hrubrant’s advice is to stay realistic.

“I’m definitely a person who should promote travel. But I would say if you haven’t planned your trip to Europe for July or August, forget it,” he said.

Hrubrant said that if you are set on that European fantasy trip, try to wait until September or even October. That way you’ll get a much better value, you’ll deal with fewer crowds and you’ll have a much wider variety of options for where to stay and what to do.

He also suggested keeping an open mind about where you might want to go. Many countries in South and Central America, as well as parts of Asia, have slowly started reopening.

“This also could be the time to maybe do something more adventurous, where it’s still not overrun with tourists,” Hrubrant added.

His final tip: Remember that everyone has had a rough past few years. Trying to return to normal has put a lot of stress on the fewer workers in the hospitality industry.

“Everyone is beat down and overworked right now,” he said. “Be nice, be patient and just know that you’re gonna have the best experience if you go into it with the best mindset.”

Source: NPR

With two years of summer holidays lost to Covid-19 restrictions and uncertainty, there is huge pent-up demand for travel as we enter the 2022 summer season.

It is expected to be the busiest since the pandemic began, and hoteliers need to anticipate and be prepared for the demand amid ongoing challenges amplified by the pandemic.

According to Amadeus’ Demand360 business intelligence data, hotel reservations have been on par with pre-pandemic 2019 booking levels since March this year.

April 2022 was the first month to surpass 2019 occupancy levels and continued to climb in May hitting a new high of 63 per cent, compared to 60 per cent in May 2019.

High performing countries like the US saw occupancy levels of 68 per cent for the month, seven per cent above the 2019 performance, while Canada reached 64 per cent occupancy in May, eight per cent higher than the same time in 2019.

Forward looking on-the-books data tells a similar story globally with the summer months of June, July, and August currently tracking just one per cent off 2019 levels.

For true insight however, occupancy has to be considered alongside a persistently short booking window (number of days travellers are booking in advance of their trip).

This data shows that the significant majority of trips (54 per cent) are currently being booked 0-7 days before travel, which means that hotel occupancy rates currently recorded for the summer months could increase significantly.

In the case of the US travel market, 55 per cent of bookings are made less than a week prior to travel.

Europe is generally slightly more predictable with over a third of 0-7-day bookings (France 33 per cent, Germany 35 per cent, Spain 36 per cent, and UK 39 per cent) made within 0-7 days.

With high demand, the transient average daily rate (ADR) hoteliers are able to achieve has been building steadily from a global low of $83 in April 2020.

According to forward looking Amadeus data for June, July, and August 2022, the worldwide average ADR is $200 which is just over 11 per cent higher than in 2019 where the average ADR was $180 for the same months.

Individual countries are seeing high room rates over the summer, with France forecasted to hit an ADR of $428 in July 2022, which is a 29 per cent increase on 2019 rates.

Remaining restrictions are still influencing where travellers are originating from.

Hoteliers, destination management organisations (DMOs), and travel sellers are tracking Amadeus data closely to understand which countries are booking the most flights to their markets, and where additional marketing could help drive demand.

According to Amadeus air booking data as of June 4th, 2022, the US leads all countries in top inbound flights for the forthcoming summer months, followed by the UK, France, Germany, and then Canada.

Amadeus car rental data as of June 3rd, 2022, also shows worldwide demand increasing this year, with 33 per cent more bookings made for the months of June, July, and August compared to the same time in 2021.

Rental lengths are also up in 2022 over 2021 (six days vs five days on average), with a higher average daily rate of $102 vs $92.

Based on 2021 performance for the summer travel season, 54 per cent of bookings were made within a week of travel, which provides significant opportunities for car rental volumes to grow.

Katie Moro, vice president, data partnerships, hospitality, Amadeus comments: “We’re proud to showcase the most comprehensive historical and forward-looking travel data available on the market today, which will be instrumental in helping the travel sector strategise and prepare for a welcome summer surge.

“The data clearly shows the proportion of travellers that are booking in the last seven days before travel, for example, which should give hoteliers the confidence to keep their room rates steady and not be tempted to drop them to attract more business.”

Having access to real-time market insights allows hoteliers and DMOs to target travellers at the right time, at the best rate, to rebuild their businesses.

For more details on summer travel trends, such as hotel occupancy, ADR, booking windows, top inbound flights and car rentals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, and Spain, as well as a worldwide overview, please visit our website.
Francisco Pérez-Lozao Rüter, president, hospitality, Amadeus, added: “It is fantastic to see the revival of travel that is underway.

“We will continue to work closely with our hotel partners to ensure they have the technology and insights they need to deliver excellent guest experiences in the face of continued labour shortages and last-minute bookings.

“This is where technology plays such a crucial role in helping hoteliers manage daily operations as efficiently as possible.”

Source: Breaking Travel News

Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council, the #DubaiDestinations initiative is continuing its campaign with a focus on highlighting the city’s exceptional experiences, and exciting events and activities during the summer.

The campaign encourages Dubai’s diverse community to discover the city’s unique destinations in the summer and enjoy its distinctive offerings ranging from beach activities, dining and family-friendly activities at hotels, to waterparks, water sports adventures and indoor entertainment that capture the essence of Dubai’s summer experience.

The initiative aims to create and disseminate to local, regional and global audiences engaging content that highlights Dubai’s unique character and identity as well as its emergence as the world’s best place to live and visit.

The current season of the #DubaiDestinations campaign, running until the end of August, brings together a wide range of public and private sector stakeholders to showcase the emirate’s various exciting experiences. Key partners in the campaign include: the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai; Dubai Municipality; the Roads and Transport Authority; the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority; Dubai Sports Council; Dubai Ladies Club; Emaar; Dubai Holding; Nakheel Properties; Majid Al Futtaim Group; and Merex Investment Office.

Mona Al Marri, Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of the Dubai Media Council and Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO), said, “Since its launch, the #DubaiDestinations campaign has focused on highlighting the quintessential Dubai experience and its uniqueness as a destination that offers a range of experiences that meet the tastes and interests of people across ages and nationalities. With the focus now on Dubai’s various summer destinations, the campaign will showcase all that the city has to offer during this season with the objective of further raising the city’s profile as a leading global destination.

“As with each season of the campaign, the initiative aims to inspire citizens, residents and tourists to explore the captivating variety of leisure and entertainment choices in the city, including Dubai’s vibrant dining scene, its picturesque beaches, pools, outdoor activities and indoor attractions,” she added.

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), noted, “The #DubaiDestinations campaign has contributed to enhancing domestic tourism and boosting the city’s appeal among foreign tourists as a must-visit destination. It has also been able to showcase Dubai as a top family destination by highlighting the city’s exceptional activities and experiences. The latest season of the campaign complements DTCM’s efforts to raise the visibility of the emirate’s various summer attractions and promote the city as an attractive summer destination that offers families a diversity of offerings and experiences to choose from.”

Shaima Al Suwaidi, Director of Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office, commented, “The #DubaiDestinations campaign is a key initiative that highlights everything that makes the emirate one of the world’s most distinctive destinations, from its mix of cultures, its culinary melting pot, world-class shows, events, festivities, and entertainment activities. During the next few weeks, Brand Dubai will continue to enhance the profile of Dubai’s various destination offerings, with a special focus on promoting summer destinations and telling stories about the Dubai experience through interactive guides, creative videos, social media platforms and other activations.”

Al Suwaidi added that Brand Dubai is set to launch a series of guides designed to help people discover hidden gems in the emirate. These guides will cover exciting summer and weekend activities, summer camps, seaside dining options, and other businesses running fun programmes during the summer. Brand Dubai will also be partnering with several content creators to develop videos and promotional content that will highlight the top activities, experiences and events in the city and where to find them.

The #DubaiDestinations campaign will also promote indoor attractions, such as cinemas, indoor sports activities and theme parks, in addition to showcasing Dubai’s most-loved homegrown food outlets from the ‘Proudly from Dubai’ network, an initiative launched by Brand Dubai to highlight the success stories of businesses born and initiated in Dubai.

As part of the campaign, some of the emirate’s most accomplished creatives including influencers, photographers, digital media content creators, visual artists, animators and videographers will also be invited to create captivating content about Dubai’s destination offerings.

Source: Emirates News Agency

Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul New) is set to rebrand as Türkiye Hava Yolları (THY) domestically following the decision by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to rename the country Türkiye.

“We have taken another symbolic step by changing the name of our country, which is used internationally as Turkey, to Türkiye. There is no longer Turkey. There is Türkiye. From now on, we will write Türkiye Hava Yolları, not Turkish Airlines, on the fuselages of our planes,” Erdogan said during a press conference.

He later clarified that the rebranding would only affect the carrier’s domestic operations. Turkish Airlines is already referred to as Türk Hava Yollari domestically, although all aircraft sport the English name. As the carrier does not have any aircraft dedicated exclusively to domestic operations, it is unclear how the rebranding will proceed.

Erdogan revealed no timeline for the rebranding for the airline, which is legally incorporated as Türk Hava Yollari AO.

Turkish Airlines is technically a public company with 50.88% of shares open for trading. The Türkiye Wealth Fund holds a 49.12% stake, while the Turkish Ministry of Finance owns a single golden share whose veto rights give the government effective control over the company.

Source: Ch-aviation

Kenya Airways and Delta Airlines have expanded their partnership, offering their customers seamless travel to a total of 44 cities in Africa, the United States and Canada.

Passengers travelling from Nairobi to the US on Kenya Airways can now access 25 cities in America and Canada using one ticket following the expansion of the codeshare partnership between the two carriers.

The enhanced partnership also allows Delta customers travelling from the US access to 19 cities in Africa. The additional cities include Boston, Buffalo, Norfolk and Rochester.

“Kenya Airways will place its code on Delta flights from New York-JFK to Boston, Buffalo, Norfolk, Rochester and Syracuse for customers flying on its nonstop Nairobi- New York-JFK services,” KQ, as the national carrier is known by its international code, said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, Delta will add its code to Kenya Airways’ additional frequencies between Accra, Ghana, and Freetown, Sierra Leone, Monrovia, Liberia, and Nairobi, Kenya.”

Customers of the two airlines will continue to enjoy one-stop connections from Nairobi, Accra, and New York to destinations already served by Kenya Airways and Delta in Africa and the U.S.

These include Columbus, Dallas, Washington and Boston in the US, and Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Mombasa, and Entebbe.

The two airlines formed the partnership in August 2018 –10 weeks before KQ introduced direct flights to New York— and have been expanding it since then.

Codeshare, in which participating airlines agree to carry each other’s customers, helps carriers to expand their reach without incurring additional investment in aircraft and staff.

Airlines have various arrangements for paying each other in such agreements, including ceding a portion of a customer’s fare to the carrier operating the flight.

Some of the benefits for customers include easier travel, including pre-arranged connecting flights.

Delta’s customers, for instance, will be able to connect from the carrier’s daily New York-JFK-Accra flights with one ticket and checked-through baggage.

The enhanced codeshare deal with Delta adds to other partnerships that KQ has signed with other airlines to grow its reach.

Last month, it inked a partnership with Africa World Airlines, a West Africa regional carrier operating out of Ghana, in a move aimed at extending its reach to the continent’s west coast.

The agreement provides passengers with flight connections from KQ’s network to various points through Accra including Kumasi, Takoradi, Lagos, and Abuja.

Source: Business Daily

A beginner’s guide to carbon offsetting flights for air travellers, including what carbon offsets are, how they work, how to choose the best offset scheme and ways to reduce your environmental impact.

I have a love-hate relationship with air travel. I love the places flying takes me, but I’m not a fan of the actual plane bit. But as well as worrying about being up in the air, I’ve started worrying more about the environmental impact of flying, and especially the way it contributes to climate change. Carbon offsetting flights is often mentioned as a partial solution to the problem, but what is offsetting and how does it work, if at all?

The Environmental Impact Of Flying

Flights account for around 2.5% of global carbon dioxide production at the moment, but the industry is expanding. And because planes fly high the atmosphere, the greenhouse gases they emit do more damage than on the ground. New technologies like biofuels or electric planes are in the pipeline which could reduce flying’s environmental impact. But they’re a huge investment and need years of safety testing, so it’s a slow process.

Until then airlines are trying to increase efficiency by reducing weight, carrying more passengers, using tailwinds and reducing distances through air traffic control (though cynics might say that’s more about saving money than the environment).

Regulations are starting to put pressure on airlines to reduce their impact, but the rising demand for flights is outstripping any reduction in emissions. There’s a crazy statistic that only 6% of the world’s population has ever flown, so there’s huge potential growth.

I’m trying to cut down on flights and take the train where I can, but there are so many places I’d love to visit where I’ve got no choice but to fly. So is there anything we can do?

Carbon Offsetting Your Flights

One of the ways it’s been suggested air travellers can reduce the impact they have on the environment is through carbon offsetting their flights. Carbon offsets are voluntary schemes where people pay to ‘offset’ or make up for the emissions their flights produce.

It sounds good in practice, but not a lot of people use them. Many passengers don’t know they exist, but even more are confused (or dubious) about which schemes to use.

Offsets aren’t straightforward and they’ve often been controversial – some of the schemes are run by profit-making companies and there’s no standard certification to show which are worthwhile. There are also moral questions about whether paying to pollute makes people less likely to change their behaviour. So what’s the truth about carbon offsetting?

How Does Carbon Offsetting Work?

Aircraft engines produces greenhouses gases, particles and water vapour which are released into the atmosphere. It’s this mixture that makes them so polluting, but the focus of offsetting is on carbon dioxide (CO2) as it’s the most common greenhouse gas.

Carbon offsetting flights doesn’t get rid of the carbon dioxide which is produced when you fly – that still goes into the atmosphere. What it does do is try and make up for your share of the CO2 which gets released by reducing it somewhere else instead, which will slow help to down the overall global increase in carbon dioxide levels.

This is usually based on measuring how many tonnes of CO2 are produced by each flight and investing in a project which reduces CO2 levels by the same amount.

There are two main types of offset project. First forestry projects, which either stop existing trees being cut down or plant new ones. The trees act as a ‘biological sink’ by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. And secondly energy projects, which reduce the amount of fossil fuels used by investing in energy-efficient products or renewable technology. Often these projects have social and sustainability benefits for the countries involved too.

Sounds simple but any carbon offset project has to meet three criteria to be effective. There has to be additionality – which means the project wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been funded by the money from the carbon offsets. There has to be no leakage – so you can’t reduce emissions in one place if it means they’re increased somewhere else instead.

It also has to be permanent – so it won’t be reversed in the future (which can be a challenge for forestry projects, as how can you guarantee trees will never be cut down?).

How Are Carbon Offsets Calculated?

Various calculators have been developed to work out how much carbon dioxide you produce on a flight. The most basic just look at how many miles you’ve flown. Better offset schemes also take into consideration the class of travel you’re flying in, the type of aircraft and how fuel efficient it is, the number of passengers it holds and the occupancy rate.

But if you wanted to be super-accurate you’d also need to take into account the time of day and weather conditions too, which affect how much fuel is used. Every carbon offset scheme calculates things differently – and some are a lot more comprehensive than others.

How Much Does Carbon Offsetting Cost?

Because the calculators all work differently, the amount you pay varies too. I tested out a couple of the big calculators by looking at the amount of carbon I produced in a year.

Two long-haul return flights from the UK to the Caribbean and four short-haul return flights in Europe came to 7.5 tonnes. A short European flight (London to Geneva) is around €10, a longer one (London to Malta) €20 and the UK to the Caribbean €60.

It was interesting to see that making a stopover increases the amount of carbon you produce. As does flying in business or first class instead of economy – the lower passenger numbers in these classes mean they’re a less efficient use of space.

A flight from London to Dubai would cost €50 to offset if you were in economy versus €95 in business class and €145 in first class. With a lot of people at the front end of the plane travelling for work, I wonder how many companies use offsets?

Which Scheme Should I Use?

If you decide to carbon offset flights, the big issue is choosing which scheme to use. There are a baffling number, most of which make impressive claims and have websites covered in pictures of forests. But they’re not all regulated and how some are funded is a bit fuzzy.

Sussing out the good from the bad is a full-time job, so it’s usually a case of taking advice from environmental organisations who’ve examined them and certified the best.

Carbon Offsetting With Your Airline

The easiest option is to offset directly with the airline when you book your flight. You just pay an extra fee on top of the flight cost which is donated to a carbon offset scheme. Around a third of airlines have some sort of carbon offset programme, but how they work varies.

Some have their own schemes and others are enrolled in other people’s. Some are upfront about their offset programmes and others hide them away. Some give you the option to offset before booking and some only after (so you can’t see the cost until you’ve booked).

Among the airlines doing good things with offsets are Qantas, whose Fly Carbon Neutral scheme claims to be the largest airline offsetter. They offset staff travel and offer frequent flyer points to passengers buying offsets. Other verified schemes include Air Canada’s with Less Emissions, KLM’s CO2ZERO and Austrian Airlines with Climate Austria.

If your airline has a carbon offset scheme, take a look at their website before buy to see if it’s worthwhile, or whether you’re better off spending your money elsewhere.

Things to look at include how offsets are calculated (is it just mileage-based or more comprehensive?), the type of projects they fund, what percentage of the money is used in admin and whether they’re certified by a verified scheme like Gold or Carbon Standard.

Carbon Offsetting Directly

Some airlines like Emirates choose not to offer offsets. Or you might want to offset flights you’ve already taken. And if you want to choose which type of project – or even which specific project – you fund, it’s usually best to offset directly. Gold Standard is one of the most widely recommended bodies and the name I kept coming across.

Gold Standard is a Swiss non-profit organisation which was founded by a group of environmental groups and NGOs including the WWF. Their projects are based in developing countries and combine reducing CO2 with sustainable development.

They don’t have their own calculator but they do have links to a couple where you can work out the amount of carbon you’ve used then choose a project to donate to. Otherwise they have various partners who run Gold Standard certified projects around the world:

• Atmosfair in Germany (who have a particularly good calculator which rates airline efficiency and includes other greenhouses gases as well as CO2)
• MyClimate in Switzerland
• Climate Care in the UK
• Terrapass in the US.

So Is It Worth Carbon Offsetting Flights?

Does carbon offsetting really make a difference? The same amount of carbon dioxide is going to be released on that flight whether you offset or not. And it’s been argued that offsetting is just a way for people to feel less guilty without having to change their behaviour, and the only way to really reduce emissions is to stop flying entirely.

But at present flying is a part of life – from seeing family abroad to supporting the economy in destinations like the Maldives. And if you do have to (or want to) fly, then I would argue that offsetting has got to be better than doing nothing. My year’s flights came in at €175 to offset – enough to make me think about my flying habits and cut down since.

Environmental group Ethical Consumer advise choosing an individual project to fund rather than letting the company pick, so you know where your money’s going. And that energy efficiency projects are better than forestry as they directly reduce fossil fuel usage. They also recommend wind and solar over biomass as it’s less likely to be misused.

Choosing a specific project does usually mean you pay more but it means you know you’re getting the maximum benefit. Otherwise you can just create your own offset by working out what you would have spent and donating it to an environmental charity.

What Else Can I Do To Reduce My Impact?

Well obviously the best way to reduce your impact is not to fly at all! That’s not going to be practical for most people, but it’s often possible to cut down or change how you fly.

Reduce Short-Haul Flights

Short-haul flights under 500km are comparatively the worst polluters because it takes a lot of energy for the plane to get up and down. So could you take a train or bus instead sometimes? This can massively reduce the amount of carbon you produce – a return trip from London to Paris produces 110kg of CO2 by plane versus 6.6kg by train.

There’s often the idea that flying is a lot quicker but when you add in time getting to and waiting at the airport it often doesn’t make much difference. 80% of flights from the UK to Europe are to destinations which you could reach by train within a day.

Looking at my year’s travels, the trips to the Alps and Munich could have been pretty easily done by train and I’ve cut right down on short-haul flights since. Rail travel through multiple countries in Europe has been made more difficult by pandemic travel restrictions but hopefully this is only temporary and it’ll be possible again soon.

Choose A More Efficient Airline

The airline you fly with makes a big difference to your emissions. Lower impact airlines usually have more modern, fuel-efficient planes and carry more passengers.

Atmosfair have some helpful rankings to help you decide which airline to choose – surprisingly charter airlines like TUI are among the best, as well as Jet2, Air Transat, KLM and Air New Zealand. And worst are US carriers United and Delta’s regional networks.

Choose A More Efficient Flight

The flight you choose can also have an impact. Because take off and landing are when the largest amount of emissions are produced, it’s better to fly direct rather than with a stopover as you only have to do it once. Flying economy instead of business or first-class also reduces your carbon emissions (sadly not a choice I often need to make!).

Apply Some Pressure

I said the same thing when talking about cruises, but pressure from consumers is so important in getting businesses to act in a more environmentally responsible way. The more people who ask about airline emissions – whether it’s an airline’s carbon offset policies or what technology they’re investing in – the more airlines will take things seriously if they think it’s having an impact on who we spend our money with.

Source: On The Luce