As part of Google’s ongoing efforts to give users more sustainable choices, Google Flights will now show you which of the flights you’re planning to book will be greener. Each airline and each flight will have an estimate of its carbon emissions next to its price and duration. This way users will be able to make more informed decisions about which flight to take if sustainability is one of their priorities now when traveling. Just last month, Google shared their travel team’s initiatives to help users have more eco-friendly travel plans.
When you search on Google Flights now, you’ll see the carbon emissions estimate for “nearly every flight”. You’ll see the information right next to the duration of the flight and how much it would cost you. This way, it should make it easier for your to make your decision about which flight you’re booking, depending on your priority if it’s economical or if it’s more eco-friendly. The estimates are flight-specific and seat-specific.
Those flights that have significantly lower emissions will have a green badge so it’s easier to identify them. If carbon impact is your priority now when making travel decisions, you can sort the list by bringing the greenest flights to the top of your search results. This should make it easier for those that are only slowly starting to learn what the carbon emissions numbers mean. At least visually you now have an idea which flights are indeed greener.
The data about these carbon emissions is a combination of data from the European Environmental Agency and flight-specific information from the airlines themselves and other providers. Data includes aircraft type, trip distance, and the number of seats in each seating class. For example, emissions increase for flights that have more premium economy and first-class seats since they take up more space. Factors like how old or new aircrafts are also affect the data since newer ones are generally less polluting.
Google says they have also joined the Travalyst coalition where they will be developing an open model for calculating carbon emissions from air travel. With this framework, they will be able to promote standardization within the industry.
