Yatra Launches New Feature That It Says Will Estimate Carbon Emissions for Flights

Travel services provider Yatra on Monday said it has introduced a feature on its flight booking platform that will estimate carbon emissions of each flight it displays as a step towards promoting sustainable travel. The feature will highlight carbon emissions and environmental impact of the flights, enabling consumers to make "mindful and environment friendly booking choices and track the average carbon footprint during their journey", the Nasdaq-listed firm said in a statement.

"The company believes this will help consumers who use the platform to make more sustainable choices and will help its corporate customers track their carbon footprint," it said.

Yatra co-founder and CEO Dhruv Shringi said, "The addition of this feature to the Yatra platform is just one of the many ways we're helping people make sustainable choices in their everyday lives." As a value-driven brand, he further said, "We understand that one of the barriers to consumers making better choices is a lack of visibility, hence, by delivering clear and consistent information, we are helping to create awareness among travellers and the industry to make more informed travel choices." Yatra said the carbon emission estimate will be displayed next to the price and duration of the flight. The estimates are flight-specific and seat-specific. It will vary when looking at economy or first-class seats, as seats that take up more space account for a larger share of total emissions.

Additionally, newer airplanes are generally less polluting than older ones.

"With air travel accounting for around 2.5 percent of CO2 emissions globally and growing rapidly, Yatra.com has introduced this feature in pursuit of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly," the company said.