Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, has committed to adopt a mangrove tree on behalf of every guest who books an Economy Space seat, ensuring every “space” seat sold is eventually carbon neutral.

The initiative follows the launch of Etihad Forest, Etihad’s campaign for biodiversity, wildlife and environmental protection through a network of mangrove and other forests being established in Abu Dhabi and around the world.

Launched in February 2022, the Etihad Mangrove Forest is aiming to plant 182,000 mangroves tree in by the first quarter of 2023 in Abu Dhabi, before the next phase of the programme to plant new forests in international destinations. Mangroves remove up to four times more carbon dioxide from the air than other tropical forests, helping to fight the effects of climate change such as coral bleaching and coastline degradation, as well as support biodiversity and wildlife as an important habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife.

Through the initiative, Etihad will plant one mangrove tree in locations in Abu Dhabi for each economy space seat purchased on any Etihad Airways flight. Each mangrove planted alone will absorb up to 250kg of CO2 in its lifetime – the same amount produced by an eight-hour flight.

Mariam Al Qubaisi, Head of Sustainability, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “In addition to our own sustainability ambitions, we made a commitment to helping our guests and partners to travel more sustainably and empower them to make conscious choices. With the latest evolution of our sustainability programme to plant a mangrove on behalf of every guest who books an Economy Space seat, we’re simplifying the process so anyone can travel sustainably.

“The Etihad Mangrove Forest is a key initiative in our sustainability journey to ensure our responsibility to remove carbon from the atmosphere is progressing. The intent is to create forests on all continents we fly to, and to provide our guests with an engaging opportunity to take part in the solution.”

Every guest who books an Economy Space Seat will receive confirmation of their gifted mangrove in the Etihad Forest within 10 days of flying. From the email link, guests have the ability to track, virtually visit, see photos and other details of their tree, confirming the carbon offset for their recent travel.

Guests have the option to register their claimed tree so they can easily revisit their tree at a later day. Through the platform’s app, Etihad guests can “chat” with their chatbot enabled tree, while also being able to track every tree with satellite maps and access data, including CO2 consumption metrics which can be tracked.

Economy Space offers generous legroom and more space to relax. It is available only on Etihad-operated flights, and guests can reserve a seat in Economy Space while booking their ticket or at any time until check in. Economy Space can be booked at etihad.com under “Manage my booking”, when checking in online, or at the airport. Etihad Guest Platinum members can reserve a seat in Economy Space for free, or save 50% as an Etihad Guest Gold member.

Guests in other cabins can also take part in the Etihad Forest initiative using Etihad Guest Miles in the Reward Shop, while a range of additional options are offered to meet corporate partner requirements and provide bundled-offset options through the Corporate Conscious Choices programme.

In line with the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Programme by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, the Etihad Mangrove Forest is the culmination of multiple joint programmes between Etihad, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Jubail Island, The Storey Group and other partners to support mangrove conservation projects in the nation and develop new carbon sinks and natural resources to remove carbon from the atmosphere following our principle “Abu Dhabi for the World”. – TradeArabia News Service