CO2 emissions: a key argument in selling a plane ticket?

Since 2008, travel agents have been able to determine the CO2 emissions of one plane ticket versus another. With the French increasingly keen to reduce their carbon footprint, this data was intended to serve as a selling point. But is it really the case?

Existing tools highlight CO2 emissions based on average data calculations, without taking into account, for example, the type of aircraft or, of course, the specific occupancy rates of one company compared to another. This unfortunately results in a score that is too smoothed , similar for each flight, and which therefore does not allow CO2 emissions to be a selection criterion in the sale of an airline ticket.

Added to this is the fact that not all GDSs are able to provide this information in their shopping responses, which limits the prospect of having carbon footprint information only once the PNR has been booked, unless external calculation sources are used that many players will not want to adopt, particularly due to the costs they represent.

Earlier this year, Afidium created a tailor‑made decision‑making tool for Irwigoo, based on qualitative data defined by the company itself. This data includes the calculation of CO2 emissions, for which we developed a calculation algorithm that takes into account all the important criteria for determining this value, including the type of aircraft used by the carrier. Irwigoo's teams then defined criteria with different weightings, which now allows their agents to use carbon impact among other arguments for choosing one company over another.

A positive action for the future of tourism, which is also based on the growing desire on the part of travelers to reduce their impact on the environment as much as possible.