Carbon footprint - measuring and increasing efficiency

The worldwide contribution of flying to global warming is 1.6%, according to last year's government commissioned Stern report and is expected to grow to 5% by 2050. We therefore believe it's essential that we minimise the impact we'll have on the environment in the future.

Read about our commitment to growing responsibly

To do this we must first understand our impact in the present. That's why we have measured and reported on our global fuel and CO2 emissions for over a decade.

During this time, we have monitored emissions from aircraft and other vehicles, and have also assessed energy consumption through our buildings.

We are working to further refine the calculation of our total carbon footprint.

Improving our efficiency

Since 1990, we've improved our fuel efficiency by 28%, cutting the equivalent of over 60m tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of over three times our annual carbon emissions.

We'll continue lobbying governments to help airlines become more fuel efficient in the future. Governments need to support us in removing the inefficiencies in the air traffic control system that can result in aircraft being in the air for longer than they need to be. Providing the best possible infrastructure, including a third runway at Heathrow, is essential.

This support will be critical in helping us to meet our new efficiency target of a 25% improvement by 2025.