Etihad Airways has launched a sustainability program for those companies with corporate travel agreements with the airline, the carrier announced.
The program, called Corporate Conscious Choices, enables corporate clients to offset their travel, invest in sustainable aviation fuel and earn miles for the organization as well as for individual travelers. The program also includes the option for green surcharges on flights. Two initial partners are Accenture and the travel management company CWT.
The airline said it created the program with input from corporate customers.
"The program was launched to reward organizations and staff for making sustainable choices," Etihad SVP of global sales and cargo Martin Drew said Wednesday on a webinar. "It's designed to be adaptable to individual businesses. It's not a one-size-fits-all. It's a bespoke, tailored approach."
Through Corporate Conscious Choices, clients can buy in bulk sustainable aviation fuel, which will be fully accredited and can be used to offset against the company's Scope 3 emissions.
They also can opt to have a green surcharge added to each ticket, which is invested in offset solutions, such as SAF, mangrove planting, reforestation or community projects in Africa. The surcharge would account fully or partially for the emissions created by a client's business travel, and these investments would be fully accredited "where possible" for Scope 3 emission reductions. The green surcharge typically costs “around 1 percent of the ticket price,” according to the carrier.
Further, Etihad will award miles to the organization for business travelers who fly on the airline. Companies can use these points to purchase sustainable products from the Etihad Guest Reward Shop or offset corporate travel either through an Etihad Offset program or a program of the company's choice.
CWT will direct offsets purchased during the first quarter of 2022 to Etihad's official offsetting climate action programs, including the Makame Savannah REDD project in Tanzania, Peru's Cordillera Azul National Park and Indonesia's Katingan Mentaya Project, according to the TMC.
The debut of Corporate Conscious Choices comes about a month after the airline introduced an extension, dubbed Conscious Choices, of its Etihad Guest loyalty program, which was planned to go live this month. It, too, rewards loyalty members for making sustainable choices. Actions or behaviors that will reward members with loyalty miles or additional benefits include offsetting flights' carbon emissions using Etihad Guest Miles and carrying less baggage on board.
When not flying, members can earn miles by offsetting emissions, including actions related to driving, cooling one's home or cooking dinner, with options from one month to one year worth of offsets.
Other ways to earn miles include donating to a green cause, and by purchasing sustainable products from the Etihad Guest Reward Shop in partnership with Collinson and CarbonClick. In addition, members can receive miles when they opt for a digital membership card instead of a physical one.