Airlines create extra CO2 by 'fuel-tankering'
A British Airways worker told newspapers about the company creating extra CO2. The person is a whistleblower – someone who tells bad company secrets. He said British Airways (BA) and other airlines use "fuel-tankering" to save money. Fuel-tankering is when airplanes store extra fuel to fly somewhere and come back. It is bad for the environment. It adds to global warming. The airline saves money by buying cheaper fuel in its home country instead of more expensive fuel at its destination. Fuel-tankering puts as much CO2 in the air each year as a large town does. In a BBC documentary about British Airways and fuel-tankering, the CEO of BA promised to look at this problem. He said BA uses the fuel-tankering method and that it was "maybe the wrong thing to do". Not much money is saved by fuel-tankering, but there is a big cost to the environment. A flight from London to Italy can have three tons of extra fuel. The airline saves just $50, but an extra 600kg of CO2 goes into the atmosphere. Greenpeace said this was an example of a company putting profit before the planet. It said airlines will do anything to boost profits. |