Free tools · Travel
Flight emissions calculator
See the carbon cost of a flight. Pick your airports and cabin class. We work out the distance and the CO2e per passenger, with and without the extra warming from contrails.
Your flight
Pick two airports and press the button.
How we work it out
Distance is the great-circle distance between the two airports plus 8%. Flights under 3,700 km use DESNZ short-haul factors, longer ones use long-haul factors. DESNZ has no short-haul premium or first class factor, so we use business class for those. Factors are kg CO2e per passenger km.
| Haul and class | Without RF | With RF |
|---|---|---|
| Short-haul, economy | 0.074 | 0.126 |
| Short-haul, business | 0.112 | 0.189 |
| Long-haul, economy | 0.069 | 0.117 |
| Long-haul, premium | 0.111 | 0.187 |
| Long-haul, business | 0.201 | 0.339 |
| Long-haul, first | 0.277 | 0.468 |
Sources
Questions
How much CO2 is a flight from Doha to London?
Doha to London Heathrow is about 5,240 km in a straight line. In economy that is about 660 kg CO2e one way with the contrail effect included, or about 390 kg without it, using UK DESNZ 2025 factors.
What is radiative forcing?
Planes cause warming beyond their CO2, mainly from contrails and nitrogen oxides at altitude. DESNZ publishes factors with and without this effect. The "with" figure is about 1.7 times higher. We show it by default because it is closer to the full climate impact.
Why does business class cost more CO2?
A business seat takes more cabin space, so it carries a bigger share of the plane's fuel. On long flights DESNZ puts business at about 2.9 times economy per km.
Why add 8% to the distance?
Planes do not fly a perfect great circle. They follow air routes, climb, and hold before landing. DESNZ adds 8% to the straight-line distance for this.
Are the tree numbers real?
They are an illustration. The US EPA says one urban tree takes up about 60 kg of CO2 a year over its first ten years, in a temperate climate. Trees in Qatar grow slower and need irrigation, so do not read it as a planting plan.
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