A study has revealed how aviation could halve its emissions without cutting flights.
As demand for air travel continues to rise, the industry needs to find solutions that can mitigate its climate impact. The global aviation sector’s carbon footprint could as much as triple by 2050 if more is not done to implement sustainable practice. New research led by Prof Stefan Gössling at Linnaeus University in Sweden finds that overall emissions could be halved by getting rid of premium seating, filling flights to the maximum, and flying only the most fuel- and energy-efficient aircraft.
Gössling told The Guardian:
I always thought air transport was already very efficient, and that is also what airlines like to tell people. But, in reality, it’s very inefficient because of the three factors: using old aircraft, transporting people [in premium seats] with lots of space, and often having aircraft that are not really fully loaded.
Analysing 27 million flights from 2023, the researchers endeavoured to highlight notable inefficiencies in sustainability. In 2023, the average load factor for aircraft was 80%. The study recommends increasing this average to 95%. Analysis by region also found that regions such as India and South America were running greater numbers of efficient flights. while North America and Africa journeys were far more carbon inefficient.
Gössling added that the carbon footprint of passengers in first and business class was almost three times that of those in economy, and could be up to thirteen times greater in the most spacious cabins. The research team concluded that improving load factors while running efficient aircraft without premium seating could slash industry emissions by 50-75%, all without cutting any journeys.
The study’s recommendation to fly only economy seating on all flights goes against the industry trend towards premiumisation. In recent years, airlines including American have been going all-out on luxury interior redesigns to win over higher-spend passengers. The industry has been banking on CORSIA and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to decarbonise. Linnaeus University’s research identifies much more effective measures, but these are incompatible with customer preferences and airline identities. Sustainability thus remains the elephant in the room in the aviation conversation.
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