British Airways emits most carbon emissions compared with rival carriers, study reveals

Phoebe Southworth
The airline produces up to 45 per cent more harmful pollutants per passenger on four out of six major international routes from London airports - NurPhoto
The airline produces up to 45 per cent more harmful pollutants per passenger on four out of six major international routes from London airports - NurPhoto

British Airways (BA) emits the most carbon emissions compared with its rival carriers, a Which? study has revealed.

The airline produces up to 45 per cent more harmful pollutants per passenger on four out of six major international routes from London airports, according to the consumer watchdog's snapshot analysis.

BA's poor performance has been attributed to its older fleets of wide-bodied planes which use up more fuel.

They are also built with more business and first-class seats, resulting in fewer passengers being on board each flight and a larger carbon footprint per person.

A BA flight from London Stansted to Palma de Mallorca emits nearly 50 per cent more carbon than the same route with Ryanair, Jet2 or Tui - 160kg verses 109kgs of CO2 per passenger.

Every person who opts for one of the budget airlines over BA on this trip would save the equivalent amount of energy as a 60W light bulb left switched on for 161 days straight.

Meanwhile a single passenger flying from Heathrow to Miami with BA would be responsible for emitting 1.13 tonnes of carbon - almost a third more than for the same journey with Virgin Atlantic (861kgs).

Choosing Virgin Atlantic over BA for this trip would mean a saving equivalent to more than two months' worth of electricity in the average UK home.

Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, said: "These figures show that swapping to a greener airline will allow the many of us concerned about climate change to immediately and significantly reduce our individual carbon footprint.

"If millions of us were to switch to a less polluting airline on our next holiday, it would bring pressure to bear on the worst polluting airlines and force them to prioritise their impact on the environment by introducing more efficient aircraft and cleaner fuels."

A BA spokesperson said: "We are tackling climate change by developing sustainable aviation fuels and opting for greener aircraft.

"We are currently operating more than 40 new and fuel-efficient aircraft and have a further 73 on order. These are 25% to 40% more fuel-efficient than those they replace."