On International Day of Forests, SATA Azores Airlines has launched its Voluntary Passenger Carbon Offset Program, based on the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Carbon Offset Program which allows passengers to offset carbon emissions produced during their flights. From now on, and when booking, through the airline sales points and, soon, online, passengers can support ongoing sustainable projects aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The ICOP (IATA Carbon Offset Program) is developed by IATA and contributes to projects that promote the sustainable development of populations in different regions across the planet.
Passengers flying with SATA Azores Airlines and deciding to offset their emissions can help the "Ecofiltro Guatemala Improved Stoves and Water Purification" project. This project, in addition to contributing to reducing up to 200,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, will improve the health conditions of rural families in Guatemala, providing high-quality stoves to replace the traditional and inefficient fires used for cooking and provide high-quality water purification equipment (eco-filters) to increase potable water access.
There are no projects in Portugal integrated into the IATA Offset Carbon Program however, and if some become available in the future, they can be added to the set of eligible sustainable projects available for passengers to support.
IATA's Carbon Offset Program represents a step further towards reinforcing the sustainability strategy SATA Azores Airlines has set for the coming years. In addition to the renewal of the Azores Airlines fleet, which allows a more significant volume of reduction in CO2 emissions, other incremental processes are taking place simultaneously, in several areas of the group's activities. Examples such as the Green Operating Procedures efficiency projects with Airbus, the EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) recently implemented at Azores Airlines and already established at SATA Air Açores, the integration in the CELE (EU) and CORSIA (ICAO) decarbonization programs and the commitment assumed with the Autonomous Region of the Azores, through the Sustainability Chart, are contributing to the Group’s efforts to decrease its environmental footprint.