Calculate CO₂ emissions for any flight by route type and cabin class, including radiative forcing at altitude.
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How This Works
Flight emissions = distance-based CO₂ per passenger × cabin class multiplier × radiative forcing factor (1.9). Radiative forcing accounts for the additional warming effect of contrails and ozone depletion at altitude — approximately doubling the climate impact of CO₂ alone. Business class occupies ~2.5× the space of economy, hence the higher multiplier. Source: based on ICAO/DEFRA methodology.
Carbon offsetting is controversial. Verified offsets (Gold Standard, Verra VCS) from credible projects do sequester carbon, but: tree planting takes decades; avoided deforestation projects are hard to verify; offset quality varies enormously. The most reliable climate action is to fly less — particularly cutting long-haul and business class travel. If you do offset, use high-quality certified projects and expect to pay £10–20/tonne CO₂e for credible offsets.