IATA, ATPCO Partner On Flight Emissions Initiative

IATA and ATPCO have announced a partnership that will see ATPCO use IATA’s CO2 Connect data in its Routehappy API offering later this year.

Routehappy is an API that helps airlines and sales channels to convey expected “Amenities” of the onboard experience, including seat pitch and type, Wi-Fi, power, entertainment, and more, to consumers at the time of booking.

ATPCO plans to create a new Amenity that will use IATA CO2 Connect data to help shoppers understand the carbon cost of various itinerary options.

The agreement was signed between Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General and Alex Zoghlin, President and CEO of ATPCO during IATA’s 79th Annual General Meeting.

Said Walsh: “We know travellers want to understand their flight’s environmental impact in a consistent, transparent and trustworthy way. IATA CO2 Connect is the most accurate tool providing this information. ATPCO customers will be able to make travel decisions using carbon calculations benefitting from top quality.”

Zoghlin explained that: “Routehappy data has been the one-stop shop for airline merchandising data for years. Adding this needed data is another way for ATPCO to provide more value back to our airline and channel partners, and in turn the consumers.”

He continued: “It’s clear there is a growing interest from passengers, corporate, travel management companies, and travel agents to receive CO2 information so they can use it to compare flights and make a more sustainable choice. IATA’s CO2 Connect offers airline specific fuel burn data and we are looking forward to making this available to our growing list of Routehappy Rich Content partners.”

This answers a major consumer concern.

Multiple studies have shown that consumers and corporate travellers want access to carbon emissions data, and that this information can influence purchasing decisions.

• A recent IATA survey shows that nearly two-thirds of travelers believe they have a responsibility to know the carbon emissions of their flights, and that a third of air travellers believe carbon emissions is the most important factor in future travel decisions (1).
• Trip.com’s 2022 sustainable travel report found that 78.7% of respondents agree that sustainable travel is vital, while 74.9% are likely to book sustainable travel in the future.
• ATPCO’s annual consumer shopper survey, published in February 2022 found that 62% of shoppers think it’s extremely important to compare carbon emissions when flight shopping and that 63% claim that aircraft specific sustainability practices would influence the flight they book.

Launched in June 2022, IATA CO2 Connect provides airline specific actual fuel burn information and load factors. This sets it apart from theoretical data models which also exist on the market. It uses actual fuel burn data from 74 aircraft types, representing ~98% of the active global passenger fleet, and considers traffic data from 881 aircraft operators representing ~93% of global air travel.

Go to www.iata.org for more.