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A scheme that would offer Air New Zealand passengers the chance to pay extra for tickets in exchange for helping the environment has been cautiously welcomed by travellers.
The national airline will offer passengers a voluntary carbon offset scheme that will cost up to $88 per trip.
When passengers book they will be able to donate to an environment trust that will fund research into alternative fuels, a tree-planting project on a Hawkes Bay farm and buy emission reduction units from a Manawatu wind farm.
People spoken to by the Herald at Auckland International Airport yesterday thought the scheme was a worthy one but not everyone was keen to pay more for their tickets.
Some of those spoken to said they would be keener if everyone had to take part. Herald website readers were more sceptical with 80 per cent saying they would not pay, in a poll on nzherald.co.nz.
The voluntary contributions will range from $4.50 for an Auckland to Wellington return flight, $13.70 for Christchurch to Sydney, and $88.10 for Auckland to Los Angeles.
Other airlines run similar schemes but Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said his airline's plans were more tangible.
The first carbon credits the airline will buy are at TrustPower's Tararua wind farm and it will provide $450,000 initial funding itself for an environment trust whose projects will include planting 85,000 trees on a farm near Havelock North.
Fyfe said voluntary offset charges had not been enthusiastically supported at other airlines but the scheme announced yesterday was more tangible. "We're trying to create a connection that will get a much greater uptake than some airlines overseas where you just pay some money and you don't know what's going to happen to it.
"When customers purchase a flight on Air New Zealand, they will now be able to make a conscious choice about whether or not they want to take positive steps toward helping our environment," he said.
The airline has been at the forefront of a push to clean up the image of New Zealand's $17 billion tourism industry which it fears will be damaged by environmentally conscious tourists being put off by polluting, long-haul travel.
The airline industry contributes between 2 per cent and 3 per cent of carbon emissions and on current growth rates this will grow.
Air New Zealand said it has cut emissions from jets by 100,000 tonnes over the past three years through reducing weight on aircraft, reducing power on descent and using more ground power on the tarmac.
It is also aiming to have the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleet within the next five years.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said at yesterday's launch the airline had set itself the "bold goal" of being the world's most environmentally responsible airline.
