British Airways started offsetting carbon emissions on all UK domestic flights from January 1.
The initiative is part of the airline’s aim to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Passengers flying within the UK will have the carbon emissions from their flights offset by the airline and invested in verified carbon reduction projects around the world. These include projects such as renewable energy, protection of rainforests and reforestation programmes.
BA runs up to 75 flights a day between London and ten UK destinations including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast City, Inverness and Jersey.
People flying with the carrier beyond the UK can reduce their impact on the environment by using a dedicated carbon offsetting tool.
This enables passengers to calculate their emissions and make their flight carbon neutral by choosing from carbon reduction projects in Peru, Sudan and Cambodia through a partnership with not-for-profit charity Pure Leapfrog.
Using the tool, a customer will pay around £1 to offset a return flight from London to Madrid in economy, while from London to New York in business class costs around £15.
BA chairman and chief executive Alex Cruz 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.
“Our emissions reductions projects are carefully chosen to ensure they are proven and deliver real carbon emissions reductions as well as economic, social and environmental benefits.”
He added: “We continue to invest heavily in new aircraft that are 25% to 40% more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace.
“We are also leading the way in the development of sustainable aviation fuel and have signed a partnership with renewable fuels company Velocys to build a plant which will convert household and commercial waste into renewable sustainable jet fuel to power our fleet, a first for the UK and the first time an airline has done this in Europe.”
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