The global representative body for the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has launched a methodology to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions generated per passenger during a specific flight. Called the ‘Iata Recommended Practice Per-Passenger CO₂ Calculation Methodology’, it is the first such methodology developed by the airline industry itself.

“Airlines have worked together through Iata to develop an accurate and transparent methodology using verified airline operational data,” highlighted Iata director-general Willie Walsh. “This provides the most accurate CO₂ calculation for organisations and individuals to make informed choices about flying sustainably. This includes decisions on investing in voluntary carbon offsetting or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) use.”

Companies, travel agents and the passengers themselves are increasingly insisting on precise information on the amount of CO₂ emitted during their flights. For the business sector, this demand is driven by the need for such information to be factored into their voluntary emissions reduction target calculations. The need to supply such information made the development of a standardised and accurate calculation methodology a necessity.

“The plethora of carbon calculation methodologies with varying results creates confusion and dents consumer confidence,” he pointed out. “Aviation is committed to achieving net zero by 2050. By creating an accepted industry standard for calculating aviation’s carbon emissions, we are putting in place essential support to achieve this goal. The Iata Passenger CO₂ Calculation Methodology is the most authoritative tool and it is ready for airlines, travel agents, and passengers to adopt.”

The methodology takes eight factors into account. These are – guidance on fuel measurement (in line with the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or Corsia); a clear definition of the scope to establish CO₂ emissions, in relation to an airline’s flying operations; guidance on non-CO₂ emissions and Radiative Forcing Index (which is concerned with the balance between incoming and outgoing energy in the Earth’s atmosphere); the weight-based allocation of CO₂ emissions by belly cargo and by passenger; guidance on using both actual and standard passenger weight; the Corsia-aligned Emissions Factor which allows the conversion of the consumption of jet fuel into CO₂ emissions; weighting and multipliers applied to cabin class configurations to accommodate the different cabin layouts used by airlines; and guidance on the incorporation of carbon offsets and SAF into the calculation of CO₂ emissions.