IATA Aims To Provide Industry Standard For CO2 Emission Calculations

IATA has launched a new online tool which it claims will provide the most accurate CO₂ emission calculations for any given commercial passenger flight.

Senior Vice President of environment and sustainability Sebastian Mikosz said the platform, known as IATA CO₂ Connect, would enable passengers and corporate travel managers to make the most sustainable choices for air travel, taking into consideration aircraft types, routings and class of service.

The tool utilizes a newly developed CO₂ calculation methodology, created in partnership with 20 airlines and aircraft manufacturers, in consultation with international standard-setting bodies and logistics services providers.

It calculates the total fuel burnt using the origin and destination airports, the flying time, the aircraft type, and the airline capacity and occupancy, as well as removing the portion attributed to cargo. From the total fuel burnt, the total carbon emission is calculated, to which a factor is applied depending on the class, which result in the CO₂ emission per passenger.

Speaking at the 78th IATA AGM in Doha, Qatar, IATA Senior Vice President of commercial products and services Frederic Leger explained that the tool uses data from 881 aircraft operators and 57 different aircraft types, representing 93% of the global air travel and 98% of the active passenger fleet.

He said that IATA CO₂ Connect therefore offers a standard industry best practice approach to calculating per-passenger CO₂ emissions, in order to provide consistent results for the industry.

IATA said this will allow carriers to benchmark their emissions and assess their progress toward net zero emissions, as well as enabling businesses to provide accurate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting to customers and investors.

“Flying sustainably and cutting CO₂ emissions is a top priority. The aviation sector is working to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and travelers want to be more aware of their carbon footprint,” Leger said.

American Express Global Business Travel is IATA’s launch partner for CO₂ Connect.