UK Airlines to Publish CO2 Data

The UK could become the first country to require airlines to publish data that would let passengers choose between carriers based on carbon emissions and other environmental factors, according to the Financial Times.

Under draft legislation, the UK Civil Aviation Authority would be given a new duty to publish, or force companies to publish, information that would “assist users of air transport to compare services and make more informed choices and inform the public about the environmental effects (including emissions and noise) of civil aviation in the UK,” the FT said in a comprehensive article.

CAA policy advisor Dan Edwards told the FT, “There isn’t a great deal of standardization out there at the moment. This would be relatively groundbreaking.”

He said he could envisage comparison websites showing different flights’ carbon footprints alongside prices and journey times.

TheFT said that while easyJet was upbeat on the idea, Virgin Atlantic said that simple efficiency data would not show people the levels of investment some companies were making in biofuel development and other related projects.