Huh? Sustainable flights? Unavoidable flights? Sounds like you should just take a train if you want to travel sustainable. Well, yes. If we’re getting technical, you better do a hiking trail on your next holiday because it’s the most sustainable form of transport. However, I believe there’s value in travel, and that includes long-distance travel. There’s always a way around flying, if you have a lot of time and money. But for those who only have a limited amount of vacation days and a limited bank account, there are still ways to make your long-distance flight more sustainable.

Why is travel valuable?

Let me explain this for a second. I think we can learn a lot from other cultures. And yes, that could be the culture of the country next to you. Especially in Europe, there are plenty of places to go by train, where you can learn a thing or 2 from the local culture.

However, the country next to you is probably pretty similar to yours in terms of values and upbringing. The further you travel, the bigger the difference is. (Generally) So, of course, there’s a big difference between Scandinavian countries and the Balkan. But the difference between Scandinavia and Laos, is a whole different level of different.

I think, if we want to try to live together on this planet, travel can help us in a better understanding. But only if done the right way. If you plan on sipping margaritas on the beach all day, it doesn’t really matter if that beach is on Bali or Corsica. So long distance travel has value, if we interact with the local cultures and try to learn something from cultures we aren’t familiar with.

Long-distance flight or over land travel?

And yes, it’s possible to travel from Europe to Asia over land. Or from the US to South America (with Flixbus for example). But it will take you a few weeks to do so, and most people don’t have that much time. One day, I will do this trip and write all about it. But for now, I also don’t have the budget for that and going to Asia will include a flight. And there are a few ways to make those kinds of flights slightly more sustainable.

1. Less flights and make them worth their while

This one is pretty obvious, but I can’t avoid the topic. As I said, I see value in travel and am not against flying as a whole. Planes are a means to a (fantastic) end. But I do think we need to return to a lifestyle where flights are a luxury. I mentioned that you can also drink margaritas on a beach in Corsica, instead of flying all the way to Bali.

So make conscious choices. Do you really have to travel to other continents every year? Or could you take 1 faraway trip every 3 years, and travel closer by train the other years? Is there an option within your company to take a 3-month sabbatical to explore several countries of one continent at a time? Or could you go for a full month, and take a few nearby weekend trips during the year?

In short, travelling can have enormous value. But does it still have the same value if you were to fly across the world as if it were nothing?

There are now sustainable travel agencies that have made the choice not to offer short trips to faraway destinations. One example is the Dutch travel company Better Places. Want to go to Australia, South Africa or Southeast Asia? Then you can no longer book with them for less than 14 days. They explain a bit more about the sustainable benefits of this. (In Dutch, but google translate is your friend.)

2. Cut back on lay-overs

Did you know that a flight emits most during landing and take-off? This is also why short-distance flights are more polluting than long distance. Because divided over the distance, short-haul flights are more polluting per kilometre.

So, if you take a long-distance trip and you break it into 2 separate flights, it can almost double your impact on the environment. Crazy, right? So the best thing to do is finding a direct flight. Are there no direct flights from your go-to airport? Then look into the option of taking a train to another airport, from where they do offer direct flights. Or choose a different airport at your destination and take a train/bus/ferry to your final destination. For example, fly on Bangkok and take a train to Chiang Mai, if this saves you a transfer. This drastically cuts the environmental impact.

Not sure how to do that? Bookachoo helps you find more sustainable flight options in Europe. You can book rail & flight combinations, that will get you to the airport of the direct flight option.

3. Cut back on travel distance

This is a convenient one, because it also means you’re faster. It’s not exactly always visible how many kilometres or miles a distance of a flight is. But generally goes that a short flight times, means they take the least impactful route. So that could be the shorter distance, but also the route where the airflow goes in the same direction as the plane.

You might have noticed that sometimes, you flight one way can be longer than the flight the other way, and that could simply be because of the airflow. Compare it to walking or cycling into a storm. If the wind goes the same way as you do, it will push you forward. If it goes in the opposite direction, you’ll struggle to get forward, and it takes you more energy to do so. Well, same goes for a plane (or car or bus). More energy = more fuel = more emission.

So, often planes take different directions, depending on where they’re going. They might cross Northern Africa on their way from Europe to Asia, but cross Russia on the way back, depending on the airflow. It could also be that some airlines still choose to fly back over Northern Africa, and that could be a longer distance, longer flight, more polluting. You get the picture, hopefully. So, shorter flight = less polution. (And less travel hours, so double win.)

4. Choose modern airplanes

This is a bit of a tough one, because numbers are a bit fuzzy and there’s a lot of greenwashing. Many airlines would have us believe that modern aircraft are incredibly sustainable. But let’s be honest, they are not. However, they are better than they were 50 years ago. With more developed engines, they are more fuel efficient and may use less fuel in flight (so similar to choosing a shorter distance).

Generally, a new model of aircraft is about 20% more fuel-efficient than the previous one. But it also takes years before they are widely used. In fact, an aircraft lasts about 20 years, so it will take quite some time before all aircraft are replaced with more durable models. But if you want to take this into account, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, among others, are designed with improved aerodynamics and more efficient engines. When booking flights, research the aircraft type and choose airlines that use these newer, more efficient planes.

5. Compensate your flight, with more than just planting a few trees

Pretty much everything we do causes emissions, even breathing. But also the food we eat, the stuff we buy and the transport we use on a daily basis. This means you can always compensate your emissions and lower your general footprint. Take a train to work, or carpool with a colleague. Buy secondhand clothes, instead of new ones. Or just cut down on buying clothes in general. Cut down on meat and dairy, or challenge yourself with a month of a vegetarian or vegan diet.

We don’t have to stop living, to lower our footprint

I see it all around me, people who think their life is over if they want to live more sustainably. But that’s not at all the case. It’s just about making the right choices. Yes, you will have to adjust and choose a few things to give up or cut down on, but you don’t have to stop doing everything altogether. You’re most likely also not stuffing your face with sweet, fatty, unhealthy food every day, right? But you don’t have to give up your favourite snacks to live healthy.

I wrote another article about my own emissions in 2022 based on transport. Down the line, my general emissions were 30% lower than my countries average, even though I took a whopping 9 flights (in Europe). Read the full article here.