When I book a flight on Iberia, I see the value of the CO2 footprint for my trip, but I have never seen – on any airline – that I can pay an optional carbon-offset fee when booking a flight. If European lawmakers mandate that airlines pay for CO2 emissions by 2026, this fee will certainly become part of any booking in the future.
I agree that the passengers should pay for over-weight luggage, since the passenger can decide what he takes with him. By the same token, Spain imposes higher annual car taxes on vehicles with more horsepower, since drivers choose the car they drive.
I do not know how airlines in Europe will determine such a CO2 fee for passengers because we know newer aircraft models produce fewer emissions. So, if I fly on, for example, an A320 NEO, would I pay less than if I fly on an A320 CEO?
Other options exist to allocate future CO2-emission fees among passengers, such as weighing the passengers or charging women less than men; however, this will never happen due to obvious privacy considerations. (Even though I, as a former Mass Properties Engineer and current private pilot, would say: weigh passengers and luggage to determine the aircraft’s performance as accurately as possible.)
Will imposing a CO2-emissions fee on airlines induce those airlines to purchase environmentally friendly aircraft faster? For aircraft manufacturers, this would be a great outcome!
What is your opinion on current optional carbon-offset fees (assuming you see them when making a booking) and airlines paying for their CO2 emissions? How should these costs be passed along to the passenger?
If you are curious as to what your CO2 footprint is, check out the following ICAO link:
https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Carbonoffset/Pages/default.aspx
(An average fuel burn value is used across the same aircraft types.)
Image: Istockphoto Credit: Tanaonte Foto ID: 1173092974 Upload date: 12 September 2019