The low-cost airline, Atlas Blue, became the very first carrier in Africa, to offer carbon offsets to air travelers as an integrated part of its booking platform. At a time when assessing the environmental impact of air travel is increasingly important to consumers, Atlas Blue passengers reserving a flight on its website, will now have the option of cancelling out all the harmful carbons emitted during their trip by contributing to carbon-neutralizing projects around the globe.

The offset program which is powered by Airsavings SA, a global supplier of back-end technology and ancillary revenue solutions to low-cost carriers, calculates the emissions of a flight based on distance travelled and fuel consumed, along with other factors like load, capacity and radiation effect. The program automatically computes a monetary contribution based on these coordinates sufficient to neutralize the tonnage of carbon emitted.

The offset contributions [calculated in Euros] go directly to ActionCarbone, a joint nonprofit, European-sponsored organization that funds carbon-offsetting projects like tree planting and alternative energy implementation across the world. ActionCarbone is backed by the ADEME, France’s government agency for environment and energy issues, and is operated by GoodPlanet, an NGO established in 2005 to promote sustainability and ecological preservation.

The move by Atlas Blue comes just as the European Union’s first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) begins. Although air travel is not expressly covered by Kyoto, reducing the emissions generated during flight is seen as integral to meeting the obligations outlined by the protocol. For Atlas Blue, making carbon offsets available to its passengers is also very good business sense.

In just two years, the low-cost subsidiary of the Royal Air Maroc Group (RAM), has become the largest e-commerce airline in the southern Mediterranean region, serving many European cities including Paris, Marseille, Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Amsterdam and London.

“The demand for a way - any way- to effectively cancel out the climate-changing effects inherent to air travel is very high on our customers’ list of priorities,” says Raphael Bejar, CEO of Airsavings SA. “Travelers are very concerned about their carbon footprint, and offering them a way to minimize the impact of their flight on the environment allows us to both meet their wishes and add value to the Atlas Blue experience.”

The program presented on Atlas Blue’s website is considered to be the first dynamically integrated offset initiative; whereas other airlines offer a flat-fee offset based on company-wide averages, Atlas Blue calculates the contribution amount based primarily on distance as determined by GPS coordinates. Passengers also have the option of electing not to contribute.