How to Travel Cheap and Save the Environment

A nomad at heart, I sometimes feel slightly guilty when I consider my carbon footprint from my extensive traveling.  I fly back and forth from Europe and the U.S. at least twice a year, and do a countless number of intra-European flights in between my American journeys.  And while I try to take the train as often as I can, sometimes it’s just not possible and – due to time, geography, or sometimes even budget – I am forced to fly and harm the environment.
Yet according to new research by Liligo.co.uk, a flight comparison web site based in the UK, travel-addicts like me may not have to feel as guilty about the environment anymore when we fly.  The web site claims that as long as us avid fliers choose a cheap airline like Ryanair instead of a more full-service airline, we won’t be contributing to climate change as much as previously thought.  And who doesn’t want to save both money and the environment?
According to Liligo’s research, low-cost carriers produce up to 35 percent less carbon emissions per passenger than more pricey, bigger airlines.  For example, if a couple were to fly both ways from London to Venice on Alitalia, a full-service airline, they would produce an estimated 977kg carbon footprint.  But if they had instead flown with Ryanair, their carbon footprint would have been nearly half that amount at 410kg.
Wondering how saving money amounts to a lower impact on the environment?
Liligo suggests one of the reasons is that low-cost airlines often have higher average load factors due to their own reduced budget.  In 2009, the average Ryanair flight was 82 percent full, while easyJet was 86 percent occupied.  In comparison, the Association of European Airlines reported that the average European full-service airline was 68 percent full.  Popular airline British Airways’ flights were slightly above the average at 73 percent of maximum capacity, better than normal but still well below the low-cost carriers’ crowded flights.
Low-cost airlines like Ryanair and easyJet also tend to pack in more seats than the average full-service airline—hence the notorious lack of legroom on these flights.  On an Airbus A319, for example, the typical airline will have an approximate 124 seats, while easyJet has 156.
The other major reason for the lower impact of low-cost airlines is that their planes tend to be newer and as a result are more fuel-efficient than older aircrafts.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on some planes lately that if I had to guess are probably at least 20 or 30 years old (really, how is that even safe?!?).  EasyJet says its average aircraft age is 3.5 years, and a spokesman for the company says they plan to expand in future years with the latest-technology aircraft and more fuel-efficient models than in previous years.
Gbenga Kogbe of Liligo told The Telegraph, a newspaper in the UK: “Our analysis shows that the environmental stigma of budget travel may be unwarranted. Travelers can now assess the financial and environmental costs of traveling with low-cost airlines, traditional airlines and charter-flight companies.”

A nomad at heart, I sometimes feel slightly guilty when I consider my carbon footprint from my extensive traveling.  I fly back and forth from Europe and the U.S. at least twice a year, and do a countless number of intra-European flights in between my American journeys.  And while I try to take the train as often as I can, sometimes it’s just not possible and – due to time, geography, or sometimes even budget – I am forced to fly and harm the environment.

Yet according to new research by Liligo.co.uk, a flight comparison web site based in the UK, travel-addicts like me may not have to feel as guilty about the environment anymore when we fly.  The web site claims that as long as us avid fliers choose a cheap airline like Ryanair instead of a more full-service airline, we won’t be contributing to climate change as much as previously thought.  And who doesn’t want to save both money and the environment?

According to Liligo’s research, low-cost carriers produce up to 35 percent less carbon emissions per passenger than more pricey, bigger airlines.  For example, if a couple were to fly both ways from London to Venice on Alitalia, a full-service airline, they would produce an estimated 977kg carbon footprint.  But if they had instead flown with Ryanair, their carbon footprint would have been nearly half that amount at 410kg.

Wondering how saving money amounts to a lower impact on the environment?

Liligo suggests one of the reasons is that low-cost airlines often have higher average load factors due to their own reduced budget.  In 2009, the average Ryanair flight was 82 percent full, while easyJet was 86 percent occupied.  In comparison, the Association of European Airlines reported that the average European full-service airline was 68 percent full.  Popular airline British Airways’ flights were slightly above the average at 73 percent of maximum capacity, better than normal but still well below the low-cost carriers’ crowded flights.

Low-cost airlines like Ryanair and easyJet also tend to pack in more seats than the average full-service airline—hence the notorious lack of legroom on these flights.  On an Airbus A319, for example, the typical airline will have an approximate 124 seats, while easyJet has 156.

The other major reason for the lower impact of low-cost airlines is that their planes tend to be newer and as a result are more fuel-efficient than older aircrafts.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on some planes lately that if I had to guess are probably at least 20 or 30 years old (really, how is that even safe?!?).  EasyJet says its average aircraft age is 3.5 years, and a spokesman for the company says they plan to expand in future years with the latest-technology aircraft and more fuel-efficient models than in previous years.

Gbenga Kogbe of Liligo told The Telegraph, a newspaper in the UK: “Our analysis shows that the environmental stigma of budget travel may be unwarranted. Travelers can now assess the financial and environmental costs of traveling with low-cost airlines, traditional airlines and charter-flight companies.”

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Published by Sebastian on Jan 28th, 2010 in Uncategorized

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