And finally… Going Green

A carbon offsetting company used the recent ITB Berlin travel show to showcase its study into the world’s greenest airlines. Following its release there has been a lot of debate in the industry about the findings, some criticising the data collection methods, others praising the company, Atmosfair, for highlighting those airlines that are making active measures to manage environmental concerns. The study looked into factors such as how efficient an airline's fleet was and how full its planes normally fly.

Monarch Airlines in the UK, was judged the world's most efficient airline, with Atmosfair praising its efficient aircraft and high seating density. German carrier Condor, owned by holiday giant Thomas Cook, won second place thanks to its high occupancy and Canada’s Air Transat was ranked third, making it the most efficient long-haul carrier. Some of the world's larger carriers fared less well, with Emirates Airline in 30th place, Delta Air Lines in 33rd, Air France in 37th, Lufthansa 52nd, British Airways in 61st, American Airlines in 63rd and Virgin Atlantic in 99th place.

Although the airline index covered 92 per cent of global air traffic, Atmosfair said it "deliberately excluded budget carriers" because of problems comparing them on an equal footing, "most obviously because low-cost carriers often receive subsidies and fly to airports further away from cities, causing additional emissions".

The full report can be downloaded here.

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NOTE: Schedule data extracted from Flightbase for week commencing April 14, 2011; Traffic data extracted from IATA BSP system for the year ending January 2011.