EURO INVESTOR: New research from new carbon-conscious travel search Engine liligo.co.uk suggests that budget airlines’ dismal environmental reputation is undeserved. In fact, in Europe at least, the research found travelers going the no-frills route produced significantly smaller carbon footprints than those paying standard airline prices:
- Budget airlines fit more seats in their planes . For instance, easyJet’s fleet mainly comprises of Airbus 320 aircraft fitted with 180 seatsa. The standard Airbus 320 configuration comprises of 150 seatsb, whereas British Airways using the same aircraft have them fitted with 134 seats (in a two-class configuration)c.
- Budget airlines fill more seats thanks to lower prices. In the 12 months running up to September 2009, the yield factor for easyJet was around 85%d. The average for BA on European routes was around 75%e.
- Budget airlines focus on short haul. Although budget airlines have more flights and move more passengers, they emit less emissions. A good proxy for carbon footprint is the available seat kilometre (ASK) of the airline: British Airwaysf has an ASK two and half times that of easyJet, even though easyJetg carried 30% more passengers than BA in 2009.
- Budget airlines have newer planes; hence they are able to enjoy the fuel efficiency gains of modern engines. The average fleet age for Ryanair is under 3 yearsh whereas the average age of BA’s fleeti is over 3 times older!
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[...] answer, at least according to Euro Investor, is: not as much as they may have feared. The site quotes research showing that, according to [...]