EMBARGO: 7am, November 27 2006
lastminute.com urges travellers to take responsibility for climate change when flying
British holidaymakers are being asked to the repair the damage their flights cause to the environment when jetting off abroad, in a major initiative launched today by travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com.
lastminute.com has become the first leading travel company to make carbon dioxide (CO2) offsetting an integral part of buying a flight.
UK air travel* produces the same amount of CO2 emissions annually as every home in the UK (24 million households) boiling a kettle non-stop for 145 days or leaving their TV on standby for 198 years.
From Monday November 27 customers booking a trip away will see the CO2 emissions for each flight and the cost to offset displayed alongside the ticket price, and be invited to pay a supplement in the battle to combat climate change.
The option to make the contribution, the price equivalent of a bar of chocolate or Sunday newspaper for every hour flown, will be available on all flights operated by lastminute.com’s 300 airline suppliers.
Money from the ‘carbonwise’ scheme, which is being backed by the Government, will go to Climate Care, an organisation dedicated to reducing global warming which invests in sustainable energy saving projects around the world.
lastminute.com urges other travel companies to follow suit, and take action to reduce the impact from aircraft emissions on the environment.
lastminute.com chief executive Ian McCaig said: “I am delighted to announced our carbonwise initiative which will both inform travellers about the impact of flying on the environment and empower them to positively participate in addressing climate-change issues.
“With hundreds of airline partners offering thousands of flights, our initiative marks one of the biggest leaps for the industry.
“As the first major travel company to take this action, lastminute.com is urging others in the industry to follow suit in a bid to reduce the impact of aviation emissions and play an active part in combating climate change.
“People are not going to stop flying abroad but we as an industry cannot escape our responsibility to take action to fight climate change.
“As well as making customers aware of the issues, we at lastminute.com are taking steps ourselves to reduce our own energy consumptions. This is a vital issue - we all have to pull together.”
An event will be taking place in Trafalgar Square, London on Monday 27th November from 9:30am that will help educate the general public. Government Ministers are expected to attend.
Transport Minister Gillian Merron said: "Tackling climate change is not just a job for governments and big business, it is a challenge faced by every one of us. Many people who fly want clear information on how they can do their bit to tackle climate change and lastminute.com is providing just that. This is an exciting and groundbreaking initiative and I hope that others will follow".
Ian Pearson, Climate Change and Environment Minister, said: "Climate change is the biggest issue facing us today. Government has a role to play in reducing carbon emissions but so do businesses and individuals. That is why I warmly welcome this initiative by lastminute.com
"Government has already committed itself to becoming carbon neutral by 2012 and we are offsetting Ministerial travel. But greater clarity is needed to help the offsetting sector develop along robust lines and the Government is looking at how it can best help provide that clarity, with a view to making an announcement shortly."
In a bid to illustrate the impact of air travel on the environment in a way that’s meaningful for customers, lastminute.com is using household analogies to demonstrate the amount of CO2 produced by flying.
Said McCaig: “Just one passenger on a return flight from London to New York generates 1.5 tonnes of CO2, which is the equivalent of boiling a kettle for two months or leaving on a flat-screen TV non-stop for three years, or running the car 24 hours a day for four weeks.
“Most people know that things they do every day can consumer or waste large amounts of energy - like leaving lights switched on or leaving appliances on stand-by.
“lastminute.com wants to take that further and help consumers to bridge the gap in understanding the impacts of travel and flying in particular on our environment. So we see this as an opportunity not only to give our customers the chance to have an active and positive role, but also to arm them with the facts they need to make their decisions,” he added.
When customers visit lastminute.com to book a flight, a carbon calculator automatically works out the CO2 emissions of that flight and the cost to offset, which is displayed in the booking process.
The offset costs range between 50p to 90p per hour of flying time. For example to offset a return flight from London to Amsterdam costs 75p (the equivalent of a bottle of water), to offset a return flight from London to Munich costs £1.55 (the equivalent of a small takeaway cup of coffee), from London to New York would be £10.78 (the same as a takeaway meal, or a round of drinks).
Before their booking is finalised, customers will be asked to decide whether they want to offset their carbon dioxide emissions. If they opt yes, the offset charge is added to the final flight payment making offsetting a simple one-step process.’
McCaig said: “It’s an upfront approach but one which underlines our commitment to the cause, and we are confident that lastminute.com customers will feel that they want to make a difference.”
Climate Care founder Mike Mason said: “I am delighted that lastminute.com has taken such a pioneering and responsible approach to climate change. They are not only offering customers the chance to offset their emissions but they are also taking a real lead in educating customers and making them look actively at their choices. Without such education we have no change of winning the war against a climate catastrophe.”
Via Climate Care, the money will go towards reducing CO2 emissions through a range of sustainable energy projects, such as paying for ecostoves in Nicaragua or a scheme in the Bahamas to produce biofuel for cars made from waste cooking oil.
As past of a wider green initiative lastminute.com is also offsetting all staff air travel for business trips and offsetting its office energy. An internal campaign is also underway to reduce the company’s energy bill and the unnecessary carbon it creates.
-ends-
*CO2 emissions based on UK domestic and international passenger and freight flights data taken from Department for Transport (DfT) and Oxford University Environmental Change Institute ‘Predict and Decide – Aviation, Climate Change & UK Policy’ report, September 2006.
Notes to Editors:
A photocall will be taking place at 9:30am on Monday 27th November in Trafalgar Square. Pictures desks have been sent a notice to advice them of the photo opportunities.
About lastminute.com:
Lastminute.com was founded in April 1998 by two young entrepreneurs, Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox, in the sitting room of Brent’s London flat. The business, voted ‘Best UK Internet start-up’ in October 1999 by management consultants Bain & Company and Management Today magazine, floated in March 2000, when company employees had grown to 165 the business had moved to offices in Oxford Circus.
Lastminute.com offers customers worldwide holidays, flights and hotel rooms and has a unique lifestyle proposition offering tickets to shows, gigs, festivals and theme-parks as well as leisure experiences, DVDs, restaurants and gifts
In addition to the lastminute,com brand, the business operates a number of travel and leisure websites throughout Europe, including Holiday Autos, Travelprice and Resfeber. Headquartered in the UK, the company has offices in Dublin, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Scandinavia and operates joint ventures in UAE and Australia.
Lastminute.com was acquired by US online leisure firm Travelocity, part of Sabre Holdings, in July 2005 for £577m.
For further media information please contact the lastminute.com press office:
Elena Antoniou
Tel: 020 7866 4448 / 07956210727
Hannah Shanks
Tel: 020 7866 4519/07717 477728
CO2 emissions by destination
Route / Return mileage / Amount of CO2 produced (tonnes per passenger) / Cost to offset per person / Equivalent emissions…London - Paris / 440 / 0.11 / 76p / Leaving on a flat-screen TV for two months
London –
New York / 6,916 / 1.54 / £10.78 / Leaving on a games console and TV for three years
London - Amsterdam / 434 / 0.11 / 75p / Leaving a car idling for 47 hours
London - Bangkok / 11,838 / 2.77 / £19.41 / Leaving a TV on standby for 184 years
London - Dubai / 6,806 / 1.51 / £10.60 / Boiling a kettle for two months
London - Sydney / 21,110 / 5.61 / £39.24 / Leaving house lights on for 2.5 years
London - Munich / 1,150 / 0.22 / £1.55 / Leaving on a hairdryer for two weeks
London - Athens / 3,000 / 0.53 / £3.71 / Leaving house lights on for three months