BeMoreEco

Green Events 2009

BLFA Final: Flybe -vs- EasyJet

August 28th, 2008 by sara

So this is it. Less than a month after we began our search to find the UK’s greenest low-fares airline we’re down to the final two, Flybe and EasyJet. Flybe reached the finals after defeating Aer Lingus (3 - 2) and Ryanair (3 - 2). EasyJet reached the finals with stellar victories over Thomson Fly (4 - 1) and Monarch (4 - 1). Now it’s time to decide, once and for all, who’s the UK’s greenest low-fares airline.

The Basics:

Flybe

Founded	1979
Fleet Size	76 Aircraft
Website	www.flybe.com
Passengers	5m (approx)
Destinations	46
CEO	Jim French

Flybe, formerly Jersey European Airways, has not grown as quickly as other airlines. It’s only in the past 6 years that company has come onto the scene. First it was renamed British European in 2000, and then Flybe in 2002 with a repositioning as a low-fares aline. In 2007 Flybe took over BA Connect, British Airway’s’ regional service. BA currently owns 15% of the company.

EasyJet

Founded	1995
Fleet Size	165 Aircraft
Website	www.easyjet.com
Passengers	37m (2007
Destinations	103
CEO	Andrew Harrison

Wasn’t Airline a great program? It’s probably annoying that it did so much to promote EasyJet at the time. EasyJet is Ryanair’s biggest competitor and has remained at the forefront of the low-cost airline movement. Most Recently EasyJet has purchased GO, expanded into Gatwick Airport and plans to move in to Manchester too.

Head to Head

Flybe

EasyJet

Carbon Offsetting

Flybe has a carbon offsetting program using PURE as their provider. However, PURE is not as transparent as EasyJet’s approved UN scheme.

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EasyJet has launched a carbon offsetting program using UN approved carbon reductions schemes. EasyJet just takes the point by using a UN approved scheme, including a carbon calculator and being the most transparent with costs.

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Age of Aircrafts

This was always going to be one-sided wasn’t it? The average age of Flybe’s fleet is 4.9 years.

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EasyJet has one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets in the business. The average age is just 3.3 years.

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Passenger Load

Flybe’s passenger load for April isn’t so good. On average they filled 63.2% of seats on any given aircraft.

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EasyJet’s passenger load for April was much better. EasyJet’s passenger load was a mighty 78.8%.

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Green Initiatives

Flybe takes their first point with an extensive section on their website detailing their approach to the green issue. This includes an innovative eco-labelling scheme, carbon-emissions trading, in addition to their offsetting program.

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EasyJet is one of the four major low-cost airlines which offers a detailed environmental code. This includes the steps they are taking to tackle climate change. Which means both on the ground and in the air. It’s good, but could use a little more detail.

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Locations & Destinations

Flybe comes in second, but only just. They fly to mainly first tier airports in Europe meaning passengers don’t need to take out additional transport once they have arrived. However, some of their regional destinations can be better served by train and other forms of transport.

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EasyJet are slightly better by offering a greater geographical spread of locations and flying to destinations in a manner that requires less additional transport on the ground.

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Flybe: 1

EasyJet: 4

Easyjet is the greenest low-fares airline in the UK. Generally speaking, it’s been an interesting investigation. There is a major split in the low-fares airline community at the moment about how to tackle climate change. Three airlines, EasyJet, Flybe and Monarch are actively taking steps to tackle the problem. Thomson Fly gets caught saying they want to but not making any actions to support it. The rest, Ryanair, Aer Lingus and BMI Baby either ignore the problem or often deliberately provoke environmentalists.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, it’s been fun to write.