New carbon calculator offers the opportunity to reduce the impact of air travel  

Icelandair and Air Iceland Connect passengers can now offset the carbon footprint of their air travel. When booking flights to all our destinations, passengers are presented with the opportunity to pay an additional contribution to offset the carbon footprint of their journey. See www.icelandair.com/carbon-calculator/ [1]. 

In cooperation with Klappir Green Solutions, Icelandair and Air Iceland Connect have determined the average flight emissions for each of their flight routes. Contributions made by passengers to carbon offset their flights will go entirely to the Iceland Carbon Fund, known as Kolvidur [2]. Contributions will be used to cultivate forests in Iceland. 

“In providing a carbon-offsetting tool for our passengers and cargo customers, Icelandair Group has taken a step towards helping to reduce the environmental impact of air travel”, says Bogi Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair. “We acknowledge that this is an issue of growing concern in the traveling community, and we are happy to be working with Icelandic experts in the field of carbon offsetting. We are proud to be a part of this important project and encourage our customers to participate.”

The Kolvidur fund was established by the Icelandic Forestry Association and the Icelandic Environment Association with the support of the Icelandic government. The objective of Kolvidur is to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere by increasing the carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems, binding the soil and reducing soil erosion.

Icelandair Group environmental initiatives 

Icelandair Group is an environmentally conscious company, committed to addressing its environmental responsibilities and dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of its  operations, both globally and locally, by reducing emissions, conserving natural resources and optimising the use of sustainable energy and materials.

In recent years, numerous changes have been made to Icelandair’s operations in order to reduce CO2 emissions. These include implementation of winglets to reduce drag and save fuel, efforts to reduce fuel consumption during descent and landing and an active fuel-monitoring program aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, our pilots are trained in flying techniques such as CDA (continuous descent approach) and RAA (reduced acceleration altitude), which result in less noise pollution and reduced fuel consumption. The group has also implemented a centralised tactical fleet management program to actively manage aircraft in the air, to reduce flying speed and thus fuel consumption of aircraft that are likely to arrive ahead of schedule.

Environmental Certifications 

IEnvA is an environmental management system developed by IATA for airlines, which Icelandair applies to adopt the best practices in its industry. Icelandair completed the first of two stages in 2015 alongside some other prominent international carriers, being the fourth airline to reach Stage 2 of the IEnvA Program. Air Iceland Connect received the international environmental certification ISO 14001 in January 2017.