Ryanair has today (28 July) announced the introduction of a ‘carbon calculator,’ a digital tool it says will enable customers to “fully” offset emissions from their flight.
The airline says the tool will calculate the carbon emissions per passenger on every Ryanair route and will allow customers to pay the full carbon cost of their flight contributing to environmental initiatives.
Ryanair is looking to expand on its existing offset programme, where customers can contribute €2 towards various carbon offset projects.
These include Renature Monchique, a reforestation project in the Algarve; the distribution of energy-efficient cookstoves in Uganda by First Climate; Balikesir’s Wind Power Plant Project in Turkey; and Improved Kitchen Regimes in Malawi powered by CO2 Balance. The latter two are in partnership with Shell.
The Greenest Airline
Ryanair says it has the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger/km of any major airline in Europe.
However, a study by the London School of Economics published in 2019 – the last year airlines flew full schedules before the pandemic – didn’t include Ryanair in its list of ‘greenest’ airlines.
Top of that list was easyJet, followed by Alaska Air, Qantas, United and JetBlue. Besides easyJet, other European airlines to make the list were Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and the IAG group, which includes Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia.
Ryanair’s Green Goals
Ryanair says its goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It hopes to power 12.5 per cent of its flights with sustainable aviation fuels, and says that its $22 billion investment in the Boeing 737 8-200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft will significantly reduce its CO2 and noise emissions over the next decade.
Director of Sustainability at Ryanair, Thomas Fowler said: “Hundreds of thousands of Ryanair customers every year are already choosing to contribute and support the environment by selecting carbon contribution at their time of booking.
The expansion of our Carbon Offset Scheme to enable our customers to fully offset the CO2 of their Ryanair flight will greatly enhance the capabilities of each of our environmental partners who are actively working on carbon offsetting programs.”
