‘Flygreen’, SriLankan Airlines Voluntary carbon offset programme
6/5/2015
Taking forward its green legacy, SriLankan Airlines introduces a voluntary carbon offset programme that will inspire every passenger to make a greener choice when crossing oceans. As the national carrier of Sri Lanka, SriLankan feels extremely proud to support a broad range of environmental initiatives and to demonstrate action when it comes to the environment and climate protection.
SriLankan concrete steps are manifold and start with educating their staff members on the impact each of them have on the environment and when it comes to daily life or travels, to highly sophisticated process improvements that result in flying the aircraft more efficiently, therewith reducing fuel burn and CO2 emissions. SriLankan Airlines has made significant investment in new aircraft models and the latest engine technology, making it one of the greenest airlines in the region.
Taking the cause of protecting the environment even further, SriLankan believe it is crucial to involve their passengers, empowering them to actively participate in the challenge of reducing the personal carbon emissions and to partake in the airlines journey to protect the precious planet. For this reason SriLankan Airlines introduced a voluntary carbon offset functionality in the ticket reservation process which allows passengers to make a voluntary contribution to neutralize their own carbon footprint attributed to flying.
SriLankan Airlines has put tremendous effort into the establishment of this programme, having gone through different stages to identify the best suited offset project delivering high quality carbon offset. Furthermore, it was extremely important to ensure that the carbon calculation methodology and back-end process are robust and adhere to best practices for offsetting. For this reason, SriLankan teamed up with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to jointly develop this programme aimed at passengers who desire to neutralize their carbon footprint. For reasons of transparency the programme is being independently certified by the Quality Assurance Standard (QAS) in the UK.
As the first phase of SriLankan Airlines’ ‘flygreen’ program, those passengers who are making use of this new facility invest with their contributions into a local small hydro project that was developed under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with support of the United Nations (UNFCCC). Hapugastenne and Hulu Ganga small hydropower projects generate electricity for local communities and replaces conventional fuel oil or diesel powered thermal stations, reducing a significant amount of CO2 emissions that would have been generated otherwise. This installation improves the livelihood of neighboring communities, improves air quality, and reinforces electricity supply into the local and national grid.