Thomas Cook Northern Europe Offsets All 1.5 Million Nordic Flights

From April 29th, the emissions from all 1.5 million passenger flights (customers and staff) will be carbon neutral by supporting verified emission reduction projects in The Gambia, Uganda, Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India. The offsets will apply to all flights within and from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, including those that Thomas Cook passengers take through other airlines.

“We will make it easy for our guests to make their holiday trip more sustainable, and we have therefore chosen to compensate for all the guests' flights. Tourism secures many jobs worldwide and at the same time helps to facilitate the meeting between different cultures, but travel also affects the emission of greenhouse gases. Of course, our primary focus is to continue to reduce our emissions, and now we are taking another step towards becoming a climate-neutral company and compensating for the emissions that we still cannot avoid,” says Magnus Wikner, CEO of Thomas Cook Northern Europe.

Mark LaCroix, Executive Vice President, Client Solutions at Natural Capital Partners says “We are thrilled to add Thomas Cook to the list of clients who recognize the need for business to take the lead on climate action and deliver immediate results to meet the 1.5 degree target. Through its program Thomas Cook is making a positive impact on emissions right now while also supporting those communities that are dealing with the effects of climate change every day.”

Thomas Cook Northern Europe is following The CarbonNeutral Protocol for its CarbonNeutral® flights programme. As the global standard for carbon neutral claims by businesses, The CarbonNeutral Protocol is updated every year according to the latest business and scientific standards and remains an important pragmatic guide for businesses around the world.

The company has already reduced its emissions by 20% over the past 15 years. Its Scandinavia airlines currently have the industry's lowest fuel consumption at 65 grams per passenger kilometre per year, achieved through flight optimisation techniques and improved flying systems. In addition, it was one of the first airlines in the world to replace approximately 45 kilograms of flight manuals on board each plane with iPads, saving 300 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The company continues to work with its staff, hotels, business partners and local authorities at its destinations to reduce the environmental impact of its operations.