The perceived value of environmental sustainability for consumers in the air travel industry: A choice-based conjoint analysis

By 2050, aviation emissions are forecasted to account for 25% of the global carbon budget. Thus, in addition to airlines’ sustainability efforts, individual consumer action is needed in order to reduce the environmental impact of air travel. The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent consumers value environmental sustainability when selecting flights in terms of the trade-off between cost, time, comfort, and CO2 emissions. Hence, a choice-based conjoint survey was conducted to understand the monetary, temporal, and comfort trade-offs consumers are willing to make for a reduction in CO2 emissions in both short-haul and long-haul flights. The 426 collected responses were analysed using conditional logistic regressions. The results indicate that air travellers are willing to pay more (6.7–21.2 €/100 kg) or travel longer (13–41 minutes/100 kg) to reduce the environmental impact of their trip. Moreover, displaying CO2 emissions as a percentage of an individual’s annual carbon budget increased air travellers’ perceived monetary and temporal value of environmental sustainability, to 11.8–26.3 €/100 kg and 22–65 minutes/100 kg respectively. •Displaying flights’ environmental impact affects stated consumer behaviour.•Air travellers indicate they are willing to pay more for an eco-friendlier flight.•Flyers indicate they are willing to travel longer to reduce flight emissions.•Displaying CO2 emissions as % of person’s annual carbon budget shows better results.•Transparent information on emissions can lead to more sustainable flying behaviour.