Travel can be a force for good, expanding horizons and creating connections. We know travel comes with an impact, and we’re focused on helping travellers make more informed choices to manage their impact, while supporting people, places and communities for generations to come.
Martin Nolan
Chief Legal Officer and Sustainability Exec Sponsor
"We know sustainability is front of mind for travellers, with 65% of them saying sustainability is important to them when they travel. We have a responsibility to ensure our business has a positive impact on our people and communities, as well as an acknowledgement that we must take action when it comes to climate change and the impact our business has on the environment."
Sustainability at Skyscanner
Our Net Zero Journey
We have set a target of reaching Net Zero by 2045 at the latest. To ensure we can monitor our progress, we measure our full carbon footprint in line with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, supported by our climate partner Watershed. We're committed to doing all that we can as a global business to reduce our own carbon footprint. We were a founding signatory of the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism at COP26 in 2021, through which we will be reporting annually on our progress to Net Zero. We first published our Climate Action Plan in 2023 and you can follow our progress here:
Investing in Carbon Credits
Reducing our footprint is our priority. Alongside this, we also invest in high-quality carbon credits and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as a complementary measure to support wider decarbonisation. These investments help support real, measurable climate benefits , while we continue to focus on driving down our own emissions. By backing carefully selected projects, we aim to deliver credible climate impact. Through Watershed, we also work with Frontier, an advance market commitment that enables companies to collectively support early-stage, permanent carbon removal solutions by committing to future purchases and helping accelerate their development.
Our role is to share unbiased information with travellers to help you make an informed choice. As part of this commitment, we believe in sharing information on the environmental impact of flights.
Showing you lower-emissions options
Airplane engines burn fuel, releasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Some flights, however, generate lower emissions than others. To help you make an informed choice, we show the life-cycle emissions of your flight as a CO₂e number, reflecting not just in-flight fuel burn, but also emissions from fuel production and transport. We highlight flights with at least 6% lower emissions than a typical flight on the same route. Direct flights are usually best, though some indirect flights on efficient aircraft can also fall below typical emissions. We currently don’t compare flights to other transport modes, such as trains, which may offer even lower-emission alternatives for your route.
How emissions are calculated
Skyscanner's emissions information is powered by the latest version of the Travel Impact Model (TIM), using data supplied by Travalyst Coalition Partners. Travalyst is a non-profit organisation trying to build a more sustainable future for travel, making it easier to compare sustainability credentials within the travel industry. The TIM was created to do this for air travel, aiming to standardise and create transparency on information about carbon emissions for flights. We know that emissions can be confusing, and it doesn't help when you see different data sources across your favourite travel sites. That's why Travalyst partners, representing many of the world's biggest online travel platforms, have committed to onboarding to the TIM—so you will start to see the same emissions information no matter where you choose to search.
Since launching in 2019 - over 361 Million travellers have selected a flight with less-than-typical emissions for their chosen route
Travelling by Train
Trains typically produce, on average, 80% fewer emissions than flights for a journey of the same distance because they burn less fuel per passenger. Some trains, powered by renewable electricity, reduce emissions even further. At Skyscanner, we know sustainability is front of mind for many, and our platform is designed to help you find the right travel option based on a number of criteria such as price, time, convenience and lower emissions. That's why we currently offer selected rail options in our search results in a number of countries.
Sustainability Partnerships
Bringing the Industry Together
Skyscanner is proud to be one of the founding partners of Travalyst, a non-profit organisation empowering travellers and industry to make better choices for themselves and the planet. It includes some of the biggest names in travel, such as Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Travelport, Trip.com Group, TripAdvisor and Visa. Together we are working to help both the industry and consumers to make more sustainable choices by providing accurate sustainability information at scale. By collecting, sharing, and publishing consistent sustainability information at scale, we have the power to help people explore our world in a way that secures a better future for people, places and the planet.
Partnering with SkyNRG
Supporting the scale-up of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
SAF is a promising tool for aviation decarbonisation, but its current supply and impact is limited. SAF currently only represenst a fraction of aviations required fuel demand. We’re working with SkyNRG to support the demand for SAF. Through SkyNRG’s Board Now programme, Skyscanner funds the use of SAF, allowing us to recognise the emissions benefit of alternative fuels alongside our efforts to manage our business travel more effectively. While this SAF isn’t directly linked to flights taken as part of our business travel, it is physically supplied to airports and used on planes flying today. SkyNRG is a global leader in SAF. Since 2010, it’s been scaling up SAF demand and production capacity so the industry can meet its IATA and other 2050 net zero commitments. Their mission is to develop dedicated SAF production and spread knowledge of its importance
Supporting Regeneration through UnTours
Supporting the Reset Tourism Fund
Skyscanner has partnered with this regenerative tourism fund, donating £80,000 to support changemaking small tourism businesses. Our support for UnTours will allow the Reset Tourism Fund to provide the flexible and affordable capital that innovative entrepreneurs need to grow and expand their positive impact in communities across the world.
Shared Horizons
Our partnership project with The Travel Foundation
We have partnered with The Travel Foundation, a leading international tourism organisation dedicated to ensuring tourism can be a force for good. Shared Horizons brings together the aviation and tourism sectors, recognising that fragmentation across the industry can lead to missed opportunities for impact. The initiative enables cross-sector collaboration on shared challenges and opportunities, and is shaped by an Advisory Group including representatives from airlines such as easyJet, Jet2 and Air New Zealand; destination organisations including the South Pacific Tourism Organisation and Canary Islands Tourism; alongside technology, industry bodies and academic institutions.
