Virgin Australia is a proud Australian airline, promoting and growing awareness for the wonderful tourism and business opportunities around Australia and the many other beautiful destinations to which we operate. We understand the importance of protecting and enhancing the places we fly to ensure that they retain their natural beauty.
Virgin Australia is also a proud partner of the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC), through our Fly Carbon Neutral Program. Virgin Australia guests offsetting their flights are directly supporting the New Leaf Project, which is preserving Tasmania’s native forests while also contributing to the protection of important species and ecosystems.
The Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) is a science-based environmental organisation that protects land for biodiversity, applying business principles to achieving conservation outcomes. The TLC manages over 30,000 hectares of habitat for rare and threatened species, including the iconic Tasmanian devil and the magnificent Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle. In partnership with the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, the TLC has identified a special management zone where it will conduct intensive monitoring for Tasmanian devils in the wild.
Carbon Offsets
To further help protect the environment and reduce our impact, Virgin Australia offers the opportunity for our customers to purchase carbon offsets through our Fly Carbon Neutral program.
Fly Carbon Neutral is accredited under the Australian Government’s National Carbon Offset Standard, ensuring emissions relating to each flight are accurate and robust. It also guarantees that 100 per cent of your contribution goes to high quality offset programs certified through global best practice standards.
Flying Carbon Neutral
Virgin Australia is proud to have created the world's first Government certified carbon offset scheme in 2007 - so flying carbon neutral is easier than ever. To offset your flight, simply add-on the Carbon Offset in the Travel Extras section of the booking process, or simply log in to Manage Your Booking after purchase.
What is aviation's impact on global warming/climate change?
Aviation is responsible for an estimated 2 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of this impact is from fossil fuel burned during each flight, which results in the addition of carbon dioxide and other damaging gasses into the atmosphere. Climate scientists have reached a consensus that as more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere this has a warming effect on the Earth.
How do carbon offsets make a difference?
Carbon offset projects invest in measures to prevent and/or reduce carbon emissions. Some of the projects involve enhancing natural processes that we know work to remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere, such as planting trees and vegetation. Other projects work to reduce the impacts of human activity such as energy efficiency measures and improved agricultural practices.
How are greenhouse gas emissions calculated for each flight?
We calculate carbon emissions per passenger for each flight using a methodology that has been approved through the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) which is administered through the Federal Government Department of Environment and Energy. Carbon emissions data relating to our operations is collected annually as well as flight and passenger numbers to calculate a per passenger emission value for each flight.
Where does my money go and does Virgin Australia profit from this program?
The Virgin Australia Group has a comprehensive carbon strategy in place to ensure we’re doing our part to reduce our impacts and protect the environment around us. For more information please see our Emissions Management page.
Additionally, Virgin Australia offsets all emissions from any business travel for all of our employees.
How can I contact Virgin Australia about sustainability?
Please contact us via email - sustainability@virginaustralia.com