Air New Zealand has extended its online carbon offsetting facility to UK and European customers.
The scheme was launched in New Zealand in March of this year (see online news April 7), and has now been extended to include passengers using the UK site (airnewzeland.co.uk), as well as the main European site (airnewzealand.eu), and the German version (airnewzeland.de).
The programme allows passengers to calculate their emissions for a flight, and offset this against projects such as the TrustPower’s Tararua windfarm in New Zealand’s North Island. Says Scott Carr, Air New Zealand European general manager:
“When customers purchase a flight on Air New Zealand they will now be able to make a conscious choice about whether or not to take positive steps to helping our environment. When you book a flight with Air New Zealand you will be offered the opportunity to pay a little extra to offset the carbon emissions for your flight. This is a voluntary process, with all money collected going directly to carbon offsetting projects.”
The carrier has also recently formed an environment trust funding research and development into alternative fuels, and later this year it will undertake a Boeing 747 test flight using a sustainable bio fuel.
For more information visit airnewzealand.co.uk.
Report by Mark Caswell