British Airways (BA) has come under scrutiny for its alleged practice of fuel tankering, a measure that is believed to be cost-saving.
It has been reported that the practice allows the airline to minimise refuelling at pricier airports, resulting in relatively modest savings of £10 to £100 per flight.
According to documents obtained by The Times, BA has been consistently employing fuel tankering on domestic and European flights since 2019.
During a BBC Panorama investigation three years ago, it was uncovered that a BA flight to Italy took on board almost three tonnes of extra fuel.
This decision, aimed at saving costs, resulted in a mere £40 of savings. However, the additional fuel led to an extra 600 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions being released into the atmosphere.
A BA spokesperson told Energy Live News: “It’s common practice across the airline industry to carry additional fuel on some flights under certain circumstances. This can be for operational or commercial reasons, such as where fuel supply for the return journey is unreliable or not available at all, for example on small islands or areas affected by industrial disputes.
“Overall at British Airways, tankering fuel contributes to 0.2% of our total annual carbon dioxide emissions.”
