Carbon-neutral air travel options directly in flight booking process - SWISS

SWISS has newly integrated the options it offers its customers to make their air travel carbon-neutral into the flight booking process. The new facility makes it much easier for the customer to purchase sustainable aviation fuel or to invest in the climate protection projects of the Swiss-based myclimate foundation. Further sustainability options are also being developed. 

SWISS has simplified the process for its customers to offset the carbon dioxide emissions generated by their air travel by integrating the options for doing so into the flight booking procedure. As a result, SWISS travellers can now make their air journey carbon-neutral when they book their flight on swiss.com, by purchasing a commensurate amount of sustainable aviation fuel or by investing in climate protection projects. The carbon-offset option is then paid for together with the flight ticket in a single step at the end of the booking process. 

“Our long-term sustainability strategy at SWISS is an ambitious one that rests on multiple pillars,” explains Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour. “Along with our commitment to actively promote the use of new technologies such as solar fuel, it’s very important to us to ensure that existing means of making air travel carbon-neutral are as accessible as possible for our customers. And integrating our carbon-offset options directly into the flight booking process is an important step in doing so.”

Three options for carbon-neutral flying

SWISS customers are now offered three options for offsetting the carbon dioxide emissions that will be generated by their air travel immediately after they have made their ticket choice. They can purchase a commensurate amount of SAF, sustainably manufactured kerosene of non-fossil origin. The SAF presently used by SWISS is made from biogenic waste, and thus makes a contribution to the circular economy. The use of SAF is vital to the aviation sector in its climate goal aspirations. “This is why we are working, through targeted products and collaborations, to promote and support the development and the availability of SAF together with our partners, our customers and the Lufthansa Group,” CCO Goudarzi Pour continues.

Alternatively, SWISS customers can make their planned air travel carbon-neutral by investing in the projects of the myclimate foundation, a Swiss-based non-profit organization that oversees various programmes which are taking concrete action for effective climate protection. Myclimate promotes sustainable development and measurable climate protection through a number of high-quality projects in Switzerland and in further countries, and is one of the world’s leading drivers of optional carbon-offset actions. SWISS has been a close partner of myclimate since 2007. 

SWISS customers also have a third possibility of combining the SAF and the myclimate options to offset their carbon emissions.

As an employer, too, SWISS promotes carbon-neutral aviation. The company has been fully offsetting the carbon dioxide emissions generated by its employees’ duty air travel since 2019 through myclimate and its climate protection projects. 

Further sustainability options to follow 

In an initial step, the carbon-offset option has been integrated into the customer’s flight booking process for the desktop version on swiss.com. It should also be added to the flight booking process on mobile devices by the end of this year. In a further step, booking these carbon-offset options should also be encouraged through the incentive of earning additional Miles & More status and award miles.