From January 2020, British Airways will become the first U.K. airline to offset carbon emissions on all its flights within the U.K.
All customers flying within the U.K. next year on flights operated by British Airways will have the carbon emissions from their flights offset by the airline and invested in carbon reduction projects around the world. These quality assured projects will include renewable energy, protection of rainforests and reforestation programmes.
The airline operates up to 75 flights a day between London and 10 U.K. cities, including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast City, Inverness and Jersey. British Airways’ domestic emissions total around 400,000 tonnes of C02 a year.
This announcement comes as British Airways’ parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), became the first airline group to commit to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, contributing to both the U.K. Government’s commitment to a net zero carbon economy by 2050 and the United Nations’ objective to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. IAG’s emissions goal will be achieved through numerous environmental initiatives, including investing more than US$400 million in the development of sustainable aviation fuels over the next 20 years.
