Flight CO₂ calculator

How much CO₂e a flight puts out per passenger, by distance and cabin. An estimate using UK government factors.

How it’s estimated

We take the great-circle distance between the airports and add 8% for real routes, holding patterns and detours. That distance is multiplied by a factor per passenger-kilometre from the UK government’s greenhouse gas conversion factors for business travel (DESNZ, 2025), which count CO₂, other greenhouse gases and the extra warming from contrails and nitrogen oxides at altitude (radiative forcing).

FlightEconomyPremium economyBusinessFirst
Under 500 km0.229 kg per passenger-km (average)
Short-haul, under 3,700 km0.1260.1260.1890.189
Long-haul0.1170.1870.3390.468

Why business class counts more

Larger seats mean fewer passengers share the same fuel, so each seat carries a bigger share.

How accurate is it?

It’s an average. Real emissions depend on the aircraft, how full it is, the route and the weather. Use it to compare flights and see your yearly total, not as an exact figure. Without the altitude effects the numbers would be roughly 40% lower.

Your yearly total

Log your flights on flew.world and your stats, trip pages and Wrapped show the estimate for every flight you take, with the same method.

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