The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it's time for airlines to ban business class, as a way to stop climate change. Jozsef Varadi, chief executive officer and co-founder of Wizz Air, announced on Thursday an industry call to arms to eliminate flying business class.
Airbus A320 ( A320-232) aircraft of the low cost airline Wizz Air ( W6 ) with registration landing ... [+]
"Business class should be banned. These passengers account for twice the carbon footprint of an economy passenger, and the industry is guilty of preserving an inefficient and archaic model. A rethink is long overdue, and we call on fellow airlines to commit to a total ban on business class travel for any flight under five hours,” said Varadi.
"We are already the greenest choice of air travel a passenger can make and have committed to reducing our carbon footprint by 30% in the next ten years, but while it's a step in the right direction, we still have a very long way to go. The industry as a whole needs to be more aggressive in its ambitions if we are truly to make a difference."
The company claims it is currently operating at the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger amongst all competitor airlines and that it is expecting to reduce this by 30% for every passenger in the next 10 years.
According to the calculator provided by the Swiss non-profit organization myclimate, a flight in economy from London to Berlin can produce 0.209 t of CO2 compared to the 0.270 t of CO2 emitted with the same trip in business class.
“It's true that the carbon footprint of a business class traveller is bigger than that of a person flying on the economy class. Emissions per passenger of low-cost airlines are also lower,” said Gilles Dufrasne, policy officer at international NGO Carbon Market Watch. “But the bottom line is that absolute emissions from aviation are soaring and a lot of the growth is attributed to low-cost airlines.”
Dufrasne added that a decisive action to address this problem is needed, starting from taxes. “Airlines in Europe pay no tax on fuel and flights are mostly exempt from VAT. Intra-European aviation is included under the EU carbon market, but airlines get 85% of their allocated allowances for free. Ending these unfair subsidies is paramount in order to create a level playing field with more sustainable transport modes such as rail and to reduce emissions.”
The debate between the airlines escalated after Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s chief executive officer Carsten Spohr called competitors selling $11-tickets "irresponsible" in July.
Asked to comment on the call announced by Wizz Air, Lufthansa declined. So did the International Airlines Group (IAG), which includes Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL and Vueling as subsidiaries and which recently committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Norwegian said they offer no business class option at all. The company only offers a premium product with wider seats that don’t fold flat, which is claimed to be the main issue on long haul business classes.
“Flying business class pollutes well over twice as much as a regular seat and airlines have a major responsibility in reducing our carbon footprint. Today, Norwegian is one of the world’s most climate climate efficient airlines and our decision to not offer business class on our flights has certainly helped us achieve that position,” a spokesperson said. “We are glad that the idea is getting traction and hope that our colleagues in the industry will follow suit and take a very serious look at their business class cabin.”
