Aviation typically makes up the largest proportion of a holiday’s carbon emissions. In fact, a single long-haul flight can generate more carbon emissions than any other activity you do in a given year.
That’s why Travalyst is striving to make it easier for you to see and understand the impact of your travel decisions at the time of booking.
According to research by Trip.com, 78.7% of respondents agree that sustainable travel is vital and 74.9% are likely to book sustainable travel options in the future.
However, a third (32.9%) state that there is a lack of sustainable options, while more than a quarter (25.4%) say sustainable travel options aren’t clearly labelled.
In other words, many of us want to make more responsible tourism choices but don’t know where to start.
That’s where Travalyst comes in.
We’re harnessing the collective power of our partners to give you access to clear, consistent and credible sustainability information.
Across a number of platforms, including Booking.com, Expedia.com, Google Flights, Skyscanner and Trip.com, you can now see the same emissions estimates when you search for flights. You can then select a flight with lower-than-typical carbon emissions, reducing the carbon footprint of your trip. We also work with partners such as Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport who power travel agents; so if you prefer to visit a high street travel agent, you can ask them about lower emitting options for your journey too.
Consider an example: the typical CO2e per passenger on a one-way economy flight from London (LGW) to New York (JFK) is 466 kg1. When booking, you could select a flight that is – in this instance – 12% (57 kg) lower than the typical CO2e for that route. The difference in CO2e is approximately equivalent to a passenger’s flight from London (LGW) to Dublin (DUB) (typically 56 kg CO2e).
In recent research undertaken by us here at Travalyst1, we found that 47% of travellers say sustainability is important to them when making travel choices; yet almost two thirds (63%) don’t want to spend time researching how sustainable their travel is. This illustrates how important it is to get this information into the hands of travellers when they are planning and booking their trips; in order to reduce barriers to finding this information.
In September 2024, we were proudly able to share that these emissions estimates have appeared in over 65 billion flight searches globally, across relevant partners.
Over time we’ll continue to expand the work to include a broader view of sustainability in aviation, beyond carbon emissions.
Detail on how the emissions model works is available here.
Here are some examples of what you will see when you search for a flight on our partners’ platforms:
Google Flights
Skyscanner
The model used is the same across platforms but how the individual partner chooses to display the results (whether by a flag, numbers only, or other) is determined by that partner.
This is just one small step for aviation. In the longer term, decarbonisation of the industry will need increased investment, policy change and significant technological innovation – all of which we’re seeking to accelerate through our work.
1 Research commissioned by Travalyst and carried out by OnePoll in August 2024. OnePoll surveyed 2,000 UK adults who have flown when travelling abroad.