Equinox Travel, a travel management company (TMC) specialising in entertainment and its sister company Equinox Charter, have launched an initiative to analyse the sustainability efforts of airlines and charter operators.
The Equinox Enhanced Sustainability Initiative (EESI) aims to help customers make more informed travel decisions about who they fly with and reduce the carbon footprint of their corporate travel.
The EESI provides customers with an assessment on carbon offsetting, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) usage, day-to-day flight operations and an operator's general sustainability culture.
Ian Patterson, CEO of Equinox, said: "We’re not naive to the impact of aviation on the environment. However, as providers of both commercial and private travel, and an intermediary between travellers and aircraft operators, we feel Equinox is well-positioned to encourage responsible choices when it comes to flying and to drive confidence and assurance by those choices."
Douglas Corbett, Equinox’s sustainable flight operations consultant, who will manage the EESI, said: "The day-to-day impact of flying doesn’t just need mitigating, but also minimising. This is why Equinox and I have set out to examine and assess the primary source of flight emissions: the flight operation itself."
"Carbon offsetting and SAFs can go a long way, but we also want to be able to assure clients that their preferred operators are doing whatever they can to tackle actual flight emissions at the point of origin.
"We believe sustainable aviation requires a ‘belt and braces’ approach. Every detail, from fuel burn to raw material use, has an impact on emissions. When auditing operators, we rigorously examine the technical and non-technical aspects of flight operations ‘in the field’, and help our clients communicate the tangible action taken by the operators they choose to work with."
The three-tiered initiative will analyse operators from looking at their carbon mitigation culture and published data to direct contact with carriers for specific information and a more in-depth flight operations assessment.
Equinox said the initiative is driven by the demand for comprehensive environmental, social and governance reporting with larger businesses accountable to shareholders as well as the wider public.
Patterson added: "We’re not proclaiming we have the answer to sustainable travel. There are many contributing factors and developments to look forward to, including SAFs, more fuel-efficient aircraft and the emergence of eVTOLs.
"What we do want to offer, however, is further choice for our clients – enabling them to make decisions based on environmental credentials, and not simply based on price or service."