Tuesday 12 October 2021 7:17 am

Wizz Air chief executive calls carbon offsetting “a bit of a joke” – CityAM : CityAM

Wizz Air’s chief executive Jozsef Varadi has branded carbon offsetting as “a bit of a joke”, despite offering the scheme as part of the airline’s sustainability programme.

As reported by Euronews, while speaking in Milan at industry conference World Routes, Varadi called carbon offsetting “greenwashing”.

When pressed by Euronews Green on why the company was offering the offsetting scheme, Varadi looked confused and, after consulting with his chief of staff, said the solution was just not enough.

“Just imagine that you fly a crappy old aircraft, you pollute the world like hell, and then you [plant] two trees, and you think you are done?” Euronews reported him saying.

In partnership with climate technology company Choose, the Budapest-based carrier launched the scheme in November 2020, allowing passengers to calculate their travel footprint and offset their journey by supporting climate projects around the world.

“We strive to be the greenest airline of choice as we work hard on continuously decreasing our environmental footprint,” said Wizz Air’s chief corporate officer Marion Geoffroy at the time.

“Together with our modern aircraft fleet, variety of fuel saving initiatives, maximisation of passenger load factor, a network design which avoids unnecessary connecting flights and the lightest materials used in the cabin, we are ensuring that Wizz Air is the best and greenest choice passengers can make when they fly.”