No-frills airlines 'better for environment’

Thanks to newer fleets, higher densities of seats and direct flights, no-frills airlines produce as little as 35 per cent of the carbon emissions, per passenger, of full-service airlines, according to analysis by Liligo.co.uk, a flight-comparison website.

A couple flying with Ryanair from London to Venice and returning a week later have a carbon footprint of 410kg, while the equivalent journey on Alitalia would produce 977kg. A flight from London to Zurich with easyJet has a carbon footprint of 277kg per couple, compared with 688kg with Aer Lingus.
No-frills airlines tend to fly with more seats occupied: in 2009, the average for an easyJet flight was 86 per cent and for Ryanair 82 per cent. This compares with an average of 68 per cent on Europe’s full-service airlines, according to the Association of European Airlines. British Airways’ flights were 73 per cent full, on average, during the same period. Read more from this item..