No-frills flying emerges as air travel’s painful, greener future

Densely packed aircraft, little legroom and no free drinks. It’s starting to look like the uncomfortable reality of global air travel for more and more passengers as airlines race to decarbonize. The spartan cabins and fuss-free service of low-cost carriers appeared half a century ago, a makeover that made flying affordable to the masses. Since Southwest Airlines Co. first took off from Dallas in 1971, dozens of budget peers including Ryanair Holdings Plc, AirAsia Bhd. and India’s IndiGo have emerged to take on more pricey legacy carriers. With global air travel almost completely recovered from the pandemic, cutting emissions is once again the industry’s No. 1 challenge. The low-cost, low-luxury business model that democratized air travel in recent decades has now become an unlikely template for reducing pollution. That’s because budget airlines’ obsession with lowering weight in order to save fuel — by installing paper-thin seats, ripping out business-class thrones and ditching heavy extras like booze and blankets — also happens to produce the best emissions metrics in the skies. The five airlines in the world that emit the fewest pollutants per passenger are all low-cost carriers, according to data from carbon-reduction advisory firm Envest Global. Wizz Air Holdings Plc, the Hungary-based carrier that mostly serves Europe and the Middle East, leads the pack. Major brands including Delta Air Lines Inc., Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and British Airways, which is owned by IAG SA, belch out almost twice as many emissions for every passenger they carry, the data show. It’s grim news for those accustomed to turning left as they board their flights, the traditional path to roomy premium seats. With a 2050 deadline looming for aviation to reach carbon neutrality, the emissions data suggest that airlines in fact need to jam more passengers onto their aircraft, give them less space, and cut back on food and drink in order to make flying sustainable.<br/>