Lastminute.com reports ‘fantastic start’ to carbon scheme

Lastminute.com has seen 10% of its customers agree to pay for carbon offsetting when booking a flight within three days of offering the option. Holidays managing director John Bevan said: “We think it’s fantastic as we are just starting to really promote it on the site.” He said the company also plans to show which…

Lastminute.com has seen 10% of its customers agree to pay for carbon offsetting when booking a flight within three days of offering the option.

Holidays managing director John Bevan said: “We think it’s fantastic as we are just starting to really promote it on the site.”

He said the company also plans to show which Climate Care projects customers have supported. “We want to show our customers where their money is going,” he said.

Lastminute.com is also lobbying the government to come up with a standard on how to measure carbon emissions to work out how much companies should be charging customers.

The scheme was launched last week by Lastminute.com and allows users to offset their carbon emissions during the booking process on the site.

The news comes as the Association of British Travel Agents revealed it would be partnering with the Association of Independent Tour Operators and the Federation of Tour Operators to launch a similar scheme next year to encourage consumers to minimise the amount of environmental damage their holidays.