Air France will carbon-offset all domestic flights in 2020
Air France announced it will offset the emissions of all of its domestic flights from January 1, 2020. This initiative will cover 450 flights and about 57,000 passengers each day.
The SkyTeam member will do so by contributing to certified offset projects through EcoAct, which allocates funds and operates offset projects including reforestation, forest preservation and biodiversity.
Many airlines already provide the option to passengers when booking flights to pay a small additional fee to offset the carbon emission from those flights. Air France will instead be automatically offsetting the emissions for all French domestic flights, without the need for an additional payment from passengers. The airline did not specify whether it will pass on the cost to passengers as part of the ticket price.
Related: Everything you need to know about carbon offsetting for your flights
The news follows partner KLM's decision to replace one of its daily Amsterdam to Brussels flights with a train service, as travelers in the region become more conscious of their own carbon footprint, especially on short journeys that could be made by land or by air. Air France operates numerous domestic trips across France that could also be taken by road or rail.
Last month, low-cost airline EasyJet also announced that it would offset the carbon emissions of all flights immediately, at a cost to the airline of around £25 million ($32 million) per year.
Air France plans to reduce its total CO2 emissions by 50% per passenger/km by 2030 when compared to 2005.