Ryanair doubles passenger carbon offset scheme in green push
Ryanair today announced that passengers would be able to double their voluntary carbon offset contribution from €1 to €2 from April onwards.
The increase, which the airline admitted was “modest”, is part of the low-budget carrier’s ongoing sustainability campaign.
Three per cent of Ryanair’s passengers currently participate in the voluntary scheme, the funds from which are used for projects including reforestation in the Monchique region of Southern Portugal, which was devastated by forest fires in 2018.
The carrier is also investing over $20bn in new aircraft technology that will carry four per cent more passengers, but with 16 per cent lower fuel consumption and 40 per cent lower noise emissions.
Tom Fowler, the airline’s first director of sustainability, said: “We are pleased with the very positive response from our customers in 2019 to our voluntary Carbon Offset initiative.
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“In addition to paying over €600m in environmental taxes last year, Ryanair has contributed over €1.5m towards carbon offset projects in Europe and Africa – and we are committed to doing more”.
Ryanair recently fell foul of the UK’s advertising watchdog, which decided that an advert from Ryanair about its carbon emissions was misleading.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a press, TV and radio advert, all released in September 2019, wrongly claimed that Ryanair is Europe’s low emission airline.
The airline justified its figures by stating the young age and efficiency of its fleet in addition to offering a large number of direct flights.
The ASA also ruled that Ryanair’s comparison with its competitors could not be considered an accurate measure for consumers.