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EasyJet to offset carbon emissions from all its flights EasyJet to offset carbon emissions from all its flights
(about 2 hours later)
Airline will also relaunch its package holiday business in wake of Thomas Cook collapseAirline will also relaunch its package holiday business in wake of Thomas Cook collapse
The British budget airline easyJet is to become the world’s first major airline to operate net-zero carbon flights across its whole network by offsetting the emissions from flying. EasyJet is set to become the world’s first major airline to operate net-zero carbon flights across its entire network, after announcing it would offset all emissions.
The airline said it would cost about £25m to offset the emissions in the next financial year through schemes to plant trees or avoid the release of additional carbon dioxide, though its chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said longer-term solutions were also needed. The British budget airline said it would start offsetting all flights from Tuesday, which it said would cost about £25m in the next financial year through schemes to plant trees or avoid the release of additional carbon dioxide.
“We recognise that offsetting is only an interim measure, but we want to take action on our carbon emissions now,” he said. Johan Lundgren, the airline’s chief executive, said longer-term solutions were also needed. “We recognise that offsetting is only an interim measure, but we want to take action on our carbon emissions now,” he said. “Aviation will have to reinvent itself as quickly as it can.”
The announcement came as it reported full-year results for the year ending 30 September in line with previous guidance. EasyJet’s move surpasses the recent pledges of rival airlines, including British Airways, whose parent company, IAG, promised last month to be carbon-neutral by 2050 and to start offsetting all domestic flights next year.
EasyJet said headline profit before tax was £427m, compared with guidance last month of a figure of between £420m and £430m. That was down 26% due to rising fuel prices and a tough operating environment. The German airline group Lufthansa has launched a business fare where all flights are automatically offset.
The airline said bookings for the first half of the 2020 financial year were slightly ahead of last year, reiterating that capacity growth would be towards the lower end of historic guidance between 3% and 8%. There is mounting pressure on the aviation industry to address its environmental impact. The UN agency ICAO has launched a limited global offsetting programme, Corsia, whereby governments have agreed to offset any growth in emissions, but campaigners argue this does not go far enough.
EasyJet has relaunched its package holiday business as it looks to increase customer numbers following the collapse of its major competitor Thomas Cook. It said easyJet Holidays would relaunch in the UK before Christmas, and would break even in the year to September 2020. EasyJet’s announcement is unlikely to assuage environmental criticism, in a year during which it has launched domestic flights between Birmingham and Edinburgh, which are linked by fast rail routes, and expanded its airline capacity by more than 10%. The £25m figure easyJet has said it would cost to offset may also be called into question.
Lundgren said easyJet Holidays would bring “flexibility and excellent value” to the holiday market. “We believe there is a gap in the market for a modern, relevant and flexible business for today’s consumer,” he added. EasyJet announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the manufacturer Airbus to work in partnership to develop electric and electric hybrid planes for short-haul European flights. Lundgren said he hoped it would be “an important step towards making electric planes a reality”.
The group said it expected to fly routes from airport slots at Gatwick and Bristol that it had acquired after the collapse of Thomas Cook as early as February 2020. The airline said it would continue working with Wright Electric, a US firm that has developed a nine-seater electric plane expected to start flying in the coming weeks.
Lundgren said easyJet would take further measures including reducing the number of empty seats flown – although the proportion left empty on the average flight increased to 8.5 in every 100 seats last year.
EasyJet reported pre-tax profits of £427m for the year ending 30 September, in line with previous guidance but down 26% on 2018, a drop it ascribed to rising fuel prices and a tough operating environment – although it was boosted by strikes at rivals BA and Ryanair.
A record 96.1 million passengers flew with easyJet last year.
EasyJet has also relaunched its package holiday business, looking to increase customer numbers following the collapse of its major competitor Thomas Cook. EasyJet Holidays would relaunch in the UK before Christmas, hoping to at least break even in the next financial year, Lundgren said.
“We believe there is a gap in the market for a modern, relevant and flexible business for today’s consumer,” he added.
EasyJet expects to start flying routes as early as next February using airport slots at Gatwick and Bristol acquired from Thomas Cook’s administrators.