The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ATPCO have announced a partnership that will see ATPCO integrate IATA’s CO2 Connect data to power its new Routehappy Amenity for sustainability insights. The agreement was signed today between Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, and Alex Zoghlin, President and CEO of ATPCO, during the 79th IATA Annual General Meeting. 

ATPCO plans to distribute the data provided by IATA CO2 Connect through its Routehappy API later this year and will create a Routehappy amenity that is flight shopper friendly for the purposes of displaying CO₂ emissions. Routehappy Amenities data helps airlines and sales channels convey expected features of the onboard experience, including seat pitch/type, Wi-Fi, power, entertainment, and more, to consumers at the time of booking.  

“We know customers want to understand their flight’s environmental impact in a consistent, transparent and trustworthy way. IATA CO2 Connect is the leading industry tool providing this information, based on the large scale of airline emissions data provided. ATPCO making this data available to travelers through their global distribution reach that will facilitate the decision-making by customers and is testament to the quality of data IATA CO2 connects provides,” said Walsh. 

“Routehappy data has been the one-stop shop for airline merchandising data for years, adding this needed data is another way for ATPCO to provide more value to our airline and channel partners, and in turn the consumers. It’s clear there is a growing interest from passengers, corporate, travel management companies, and travel agents to receive CO₂ information so they can use it to compare flights and make a more sustainable choice. IATA’s CO2 Connect offers airline-specific fuel burn data, and we are looking forward to making this available to our growing list of Routehappy partners,” said Zoghlin.

Sustainability is a critical challenge for the air travel industry and a major concern for consumers. Multiple studies have shown that consumers and corporate travelers want access to carbon data, and that this data can influence purchasing decisions. A recent IATA survey shows that nearly two-thirds of travelers believe they have a responsibility to know the carbon emissions of their flights, and that a third of air travelers believe carbon emissions is the most important factor in future travel decisions. According to Trip.com’s 2022 sustainable travel report, 78.7 percent of respondents agree that sustainable travel is vital, while 74.9 percent are likely to book sustainable travel in the future. ATPCO’s own annual consumer shopper survey published in February 2022 found that 62 percent of shoppers think it’s extremely important to compare carbon emissions when flight shopping and that 63 percent claim that aircraft specific sustainability practices would influence the flight they book.

Launched in June 2022, IATA CO2 Connect responds to the growing demand for CO₂ data transparency linked to airline-specific actual fuel burn information and load factors. This sets it apart from the theoretical data models that also exist on the market.

The current data that IATA has sourced covers actual fuel burn data from 74 aircraft types, representing approximately 98 percent of active global passenger fleet, and considers traffic data from 881 aircraft operators representing about 93 percent of global air travel. ATPCO’s global distribution reach of its merchandising content covers nearly all major commercial airlines and more than 65 third-party sales channels and systems. 

IATA CO2 Connect utilizes the newly developed CO₂ Calculation Methodology, adopted by IATA’s Passenger Service Conference in March 2022. This was conceived by leading partners from 20 airlines and major aircraft manufacturers, in consultation with international standard-setting bodies and logistics services providers, and takes these factors into account: 

• Guidance on fuel measurement, aligned with the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) 
• Clearly defined scope to calculate CO₂ emissions in relation to airlines’ flying activities   
• Guidance on non-CO₂ related emissions and Radiative Forcing Index (RFI) 
• Weight-based calculation principle: allocation of CO₂ emissions by passenger and belly cargo 
• Guidance on passenger weight, using actual and standard weight 
• Emissions Factor for conversion of jet fuel consumption to CO₂, fully aligned with CORSIA 
• Cabin class weighting and multipliers to reflect different cabin configurations of airlines 
• Guidance on carbon offsets and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of the CO₂ calculation. 

ATPCO will share more information with the industry on when the new CO₂ amenity is launched later this year.