Etihad Guest, the loyalty program of Etihad Airways, has launched a series of sustainable initiatives to reward members for making "green" choices and providing options to reduce their carbon footprint. Conscious Choices, the new range of sustainable initiatives, aims to assist the airline’s ambition of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and halve 2019 emissions by 2035.
Conscious Choices rewards customers with Tier Miles and additional benefits for carrying less baggage onboard and offsetting their flights’ carbon emissions using Etihad Guest Miles. In their daily lives, when not flying, members can earn Tier Miles by offsetting everyday emissions such as driving, with options ranging from one month to one year worth of offsets, as well as emissions such as cooling their home or cooking their dinner for a month up to a year; donating miles to a green cause; and by purchasing sustainable products from the Etihad Guest Reward Shop in partnership with Collinson and CarbonClick. Members can also choose to go green by opting for a digital membership card instead of physical. Rewarding members with Tier Miles helps them on their way to maintain their existing tier or upgrade to the new tier to unlock even more benefits.
Etihad says it is the first airline in the world to reward frequent flyers for making sustainable choices in the air and on the ground. Members’ sustainable behaviors are already being captured so they can be rewarded for offsetting their flights with Miles and purchasing sustainable products in the Reward Shop, while the full program and benefits will go live in January 2022.
Over the past two years, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the airline has introduced several CO2 reduction initiatives under its Greenliner sustainability program. This includes adopting thousands of mangroves, using sustainable fuels, reducing contrails, flying optimized flight paths, operating more electric vehicles and working with partners who share its vision for cleaner skies.
At the recent Dubai Airshow, Etihad expanded its strategic sustainability program to unite industry leaders including Boeing, Airbus, GE and Rolls-Royce in the most comprehensive, cross-organizational aviation sustainability initiative ever undertaken.
In October, Etihad operated its most sustainable flight, leveraging the learnings and efficiencies developed over the past two years to reduce carbon emissions by 72 percent in absolute terms compared to the equivalent flight operated in 2019.
The EY20 Sustainable Flight is an example of what the future of commercial air travel looks like. Throughout 2021, Etihad expanded its carbon offset program to support Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park project and Indonesia’s Katingan Mentaya Project in partnership with Respira, Shell and CarbonClick. At the same time, Etihad offset the emissions of its signature Greenliner aircraft for the entire year, the equivalent to approximately 80,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
This story originally appeared on www.luxurytraveladvisor.com.
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