Fly green airlines, make a difference

Are you a frequent flier? And, are you conscious about the need to protect the environment? Then it will come as a revelation that flying is one of the high-pollution mode of travelling. Besides, among 10 select airlines of the country, Spice Jet is the least polluting one, according to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) about the different levels of carbon footprints left behind by passengers of different airlines.

According to the study carried out by IIMA professor Amit Garg and academic associate Vidhee Avashia, Alliance Air, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Indian Airlines are the top polluters in terms of emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) per passenger per km. Alliance Air has the highest carbon footprint by emitting 444 grams of CO2 per passenger per kilometre, while Spice Jet was the least polluter by emitting only 151 grams of CO2 per passenger per kilometre.

The amount of carbon dioxide emitted per passenger per kilometer by the other airlines was 383 gm by Jet Airways; 362 by Kingfisher; 351 by Indian Airlines; 236 by MDLR, 232 by Jetlite, 198 by Paramount , 172 by Indigo and 170 by Go Air.

Talking about the study, Professor Garg, who teaches Carbon Finance at IIMA, said, “The emission depends upon the planes used, flight occupancy rates and flying time, including any hovering time at destination due to air traffic control delays. Landing, take-off and cruise emissions have been included in these estimates.

However ground operations, other support functions and electricity consumption by various airlines have not been included for lack of available data.”  Garg said, “We have used published data from authentic sources for this research, including flight and operations data from the annual publications of Director General of Civil Aviation, and flight schedules of various airlines as published on their websites.”    

Speaking about the importance of spreading awareness about carbon footprints, Garg said, “It is high time that travelling public is made aware of the carbon footprints of various modes of travel and for various individual airlines. Train travel is the least damaging from a carbon footprint perspective, emitting only around 20 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per passenger per kilometre. Two-wheelers emit around 65 gm per km (without pillion rider) and cars around 200 gm. In case the car is shared by four persons, per passenger per km emissions reduces to 50 gm.”