How many cars equal the CO2 emissions of one plane?

Asked by: Grant de Souza, by email

A Boeing 747 uses 7840kg of aviation fuel for the take-off, climb and descent portions of the flight and these account for about 250km. For journeys longer than that, the plane will use 10.1kg for each additional kilometre under typical cruising conditions. So to fly from Heathrow to Edinburgh (530km) uses 10,668kg of fuel, which releases a little over 33 tonnes of CO₂.

Whereas a Ford Mondeo 1.8 TDCi emits 151g of CO₂ per km and covers 650km to reach Edinburgh. That works out to be 98kg for a single passenger, compared to 79kg per person for the Jumbo, assuming it carries its full complement of 416 passengers. But you could drive 336 cars to Edinburgh for the same CO₂ as one plane.

Read more:

• Why do passenger planes fly so high?
• What happens to old aeroplanes?