British Airways is set to begin mandatory carbon offsetting of its domestic flights. The news follows a similar move by the French flag carrier, Air France, last week.

The aviation industry is responsible for around 2.5% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. While this is less than the 10% share which the fashion industry contributes (according to United Nations Climate Change), its impact is much more visible on a day to day basis. As such, domestic flights are coming under increasing scrutiny as people argue that a train could do the trick just as well. Consequently, British Airways has decided to offset around 400,000 tonnes of CO2 a year on domestic flights.

75 domestic flights per day

British Airways currently operates around 75 domestic flights per day. These flights shuttle passengers between London and Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast City, Inverness and Jersey. This, the airline says, accounts for around 400,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

British Airways will automatically carbon offset every domestic flight booking from January 2020. For a flight from London to Manchester, around 0.02 tonnes of CO2 will be offset per passenger, while this would increase to 0.04 from London to Edinburgh.

British Airways, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Offsetting
Carbon offsetting is just one part of British Airways' quest to become carbon neutral by 2025. Photo: British Airways

Voluntary global offsetting scheme

In addition to announcing that it would automatically offset carbon emissions from domestic flights, British Airways has also partnered with Pure Leapfrog in order to realize its carbon offsetting commitment. The airline has set up a tool at pureleapfrog.org to allow passengers to offset carbon emissions for international flights.

The coolest part is that the tool allows you to calculate the emissions between any two airports. This means that you could theoretically offset a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Brussels for £1. As mentioned, this transaction currently has to be completed through the Pure Leapfrog website. However, a British Airways representative told Simple Flying that the airline has plans to integrate the scheme into its booking process.

British Airways, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Offsetting
British Airways now offers every passenger the opportunity to carbon offset their flights. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

IAG carbon neutral by 2050

The news that British Airways would automatically offset carbon emissions was accompanied by an announcement from IAG. British Airways' owner became the first airline group to have committed to achieving net carbon neutral operations by 2050.

Earlier this year Simple Flying reported that the International Airlines Group had committed to investing $400 million in developing sustainable jet fuels from household waste. However, IAG isn't the only airline group taking action regarding its carbon emissions.

Joining Air France

Just last week Simple Flying reported that Air France would begin carbon offsetting every domestic flight booking from 2020.

Air France, Domestic Flights, Carbon Neutral
The French government has said nationalization is one of the options they are looking into. Photo: Air France

From the 1st of January 2020, the new policy will come into effect. According to Air France, this change will affect over 450 flights per day representing over 57,000 customers. However, this will only apply to flights within mainland France.

Do you think all flight bookings should have carbon offsetting included? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!