Etihad Airways Is Adopting A Tree For Every Economy Passenger

Every customer who books an economy seat on Etihad flights will support a carbon-cleansing mangrove tree. As a part of Etihad’s Abu Dhabi Mangrove initiative, a mangrove tree will be planted for every economy class ticket sold. The trees will be planted in the Etihad Mangrove Forest. By the first quarter of 2023, the airline plans to have planted 182,000 mangrove trees. It intends to establish mangrove forests on all continents it serves in the near future. Each mangrove tree will absorb the amount of carbon dioxide produced by an eight-hour flight throughout its lifetime. This will make every economy class seat carbon-neutral.

Carbon-neutral seating

Etihad Airways has announced that it will be planting a mangrove tree for every economy ticket sold. This announcement comes as a part of the airline’s Abu Dhabi Mangrove initiative. The trees will be planted within ten days of the booked flight. The airline only has one mangrove forest at the moment, which is located in Abu Dhabi. The next stage of the initiative will be to plant a mangrove forest on every continent it serves.

Mangrove trees are one of the world’s best natural combatants for carbon emissions. Photo: Etihad Airways

Mangrove trees are one of the best plants in the world for absorbing and cleansing carbon emissions. The mangrove tree absorbs more than four times as much carbon dioxide as most plants in tropical forests. Each mangrove tree can absorb up to 250kg (551lbs) of CO2 throughout its life. This is roughly the amount of carbon dioxide produced on an eight-hour flight. The airline plans to utilize the tree’s natural ability to cleanse pollution to make all of its economy seats carbon-neutral. These added mangrove forests will also provide additional habitat for wildlife.

Committed to environmental stability

Etihad is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and promoting environmental sustainability. The airline hopes to create sustainable forests around the globe to help offset the effects of climate change. The head of Sustainability at Etihad Aviation Group, Mariam Al Qubaisi, shared that its mangrove forests are essential to the airline’s plan to reach carbon neutrality. Al Qubaisi stated,

“The Etihad Mangrove Forest is a key initiative in our sustainability journey to ensure our responsibility to remove carbon from the atmosphere is progressing. The intent is to create forests on all continents we fly to, and to provide our guests with an engaging opportunity to take part in the solution.”

Etihad passengers will be able to track the progress of their mangrove tree. Photo: Getty Images

The initiative is also giving passengers a way to help protect the environment. Passengers will be able to track the progress of their tree through the airlines’ app. The app will notify them once it has been planted and can track the approximate amount of carbon dioxide it has absorbed. Al Qubaisi added,

“In addition to our own sustainability ambitions, we made a commitment to helping our guests and partners to travel more sustainably and empower them to make conscious choices. With the latest evolution of our sustainability programme to plant a mangrove on behalf of every guest who books an Economy Space seat, we’re simplifying the process so anyone can travel sustainably.”

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