‘Flight shame’ is real, will make carbon big business, Citi says

“Flight shame” -- flyers feeling guilty about their carbon footprint -- is a real phenomenon and will raise costs for airlines, consumers and companies, while catapulting emission offsetting into a big business, Citigroup predicts. The cost of offsetting planes’ carbon emissions could become as much as 10 times higher than the airline industry currently estimates, Citi analysts including Mark Manduca said in a note Wednesday. For economy seats alone, the cost could balloon to US$3.8b a year by 2025, hurting airlines’ earnings, they said. Groups such as Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion and activists are fuelling the flight-shame movement by highlighting aviation’s role in global warming. People shunning planes has already had an impact on passenger numbers in parts of Europe. <br/>