New proposals for environmental information to be available to consumers booking flights 

At a glance

• New proposals set out how consumers would be able to find out the environmental impact of flights from and within the UK.   
• Consumers would be able to make informed travel choices when booking flights from, to or within the UK, by accessing environmental information.  
• Consultation by the UK Civil Aviation Authority sets out ambitions for data to be accessible, standardised and comparable across booking sites.

Consumers should be able to make more informed travel choices when booking flights and package holidays from, to or within the UK, by accessing information on the environmental impact of flights.

In a consultation launched by the UK Civil Aviation Authority today, proposals have been put forward to make clearer the environmental information consumers could expect to see when booking flights in the future.   

The regulator has outlined that environmental information consumers receive should be accurate, understandable, and accessible.  

 Metrics reported to consumers would also use standard units, such as kg CO2 or kg CO2e per passenger journey. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is also looking at how the information should be standardised and consistent across the industry and outlets that sell flights.  

 Tim Johnson, Director of Policy at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:   

"Providing consumers with accessible, transparent, and accurate environmental information is essential to making more informed travel choices.   

“Our new proposals aim to standardise this information across all platforms, enabling passengers to more easily compare the environmental impact of their flights.   
 
“This initiative is a significant step towards greater transparency and improved sustainability in the aviation industry."  

Harry Armstrong, Head of Sustainability at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, added:  

“All of us want to do our bit to lower our environmental impact, but making informed choices is difficult to do when the data is not available. That is why we’ve put forward proposals to ensure that consumers can make decisions about their travel plans by having environmental data available at the point of booking.”  

The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy includes its role in the provision of environmental information to consumers and the public generally.   

An essential part of this work is ensuring that consumers can make informed choices about their flight booking selections.  

The proposals set out today come following a previous call for evidence from the regulator in 2023, which informed the draft principles for airlines and other companies that advertise or sell flights to follow when calculating and providing environmental information to consumers on their flight.  

Notes to editors 

• The consultation can be found on the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s website and is open until 15 October 2024. It is open from 23 July 2024 and closes at 23:59 on 15 October 2024. 
• The draft principles outlined in the consultation are: 
• Accessible: Information should be available wherever flights to, from, or within the UK are sold. 
• Transparent: Methodologies and assumptions must be clear. 
• Accountable and Accurate: Publishers must ensure the information is up-to-date and sourced credibly. 
• Specific: Data should be as specific as possible to the passenger's flight choice. 
• Timely: Information should reflect any operational changes. 
• Consistent: Environmental information should be uniform across all platforms. 
• Standardised: Minimum standards for measuring and reporting must be met. 
• Comparable: Metrics should use standard units, such as kg CO2 or kg CO2e per passenger journey. 
• Continuous Improvement: Information should drive improvements in sustainability performance.  
• The regulator has also published a summary of responses to a previous consultation which can be found on its website.