ETIHAD LAUNCHES WORLD’S FIRST GREEN LOYALTY PROGRAMME: ETIHAD GUEST TO REWARD MEMBERS FOR MAKING SUSTAINABLE CHOICES

The Voice of Chandigarh | Travel Trade Reporter

Etihad Guest, the award-winning loyalty programme of Etihad Airways, has introduced a series of sustainability-focused initiatives to reward members for making ‘green’ choices and providing options to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Conscious Choices, the new range of sustainable initiatives offered by the Etihad Guest programme, has been created to support Etihad’s overarching sustainability ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, and halve 2019 emissions by 2035. Travellers wishing to fly and spend more consciously and sustainably can now earn Tier Miles, and other rewards, for making sustainable choices.

Empowering Etihad Guest members to travel with a lighter carbon footprint, Conscious Choices rewards travellers with Tier Miles and additional benefits for carrying less baggage on board and offsetting their flights’ carbon emissions using Etihad Guest Miles. In their daily lives, when not flying, members can earn Tier Miles by offsetting everyday emissions such as driving, with options ranging from one month to one year worth of offsets, as well as emissions such as cooling your home or cooking your dinner for a month up to a year; donating miles to a green cause; and by purchasing sustainable products from the Etihad Guest Reward Shop in partnership with Collinson and CarbonClick. Members can also choose to ’go green’, by opting for a digital membership card instead of physical. Rewarding members with Tier Miles helps them on their way to maintain their existing tier or upgrade to the new tier to unlock even more benefits.

Etihad is the first airline in the world to reward frequent flyers for being more sustainable in the air and on the ground. Members’ sustainable behaviours are already being captured so they can be rewarded for offsetting their flights with Miles and purchasing sustainable products in the Reward Shop, while the full programme and benefits will go live in January 2022.

Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Etihad’s commitment to sustainability sits at the core of our business, and we’re pleased to welcome our 8 million members to jump on board this journey to sustainability.  Empowering our Members to offset their personal travel or shopping in a sustainable way, and be rewarded for it, gives the Etihad sustainability programme even more weight.

“While Etihad has focused on developing technology and innovative solutions for operational efficiency that will actively reduce the CO2 emissions of flying, we have placed an equal focus on the guest. To that end we have been developing our sustainable loyalty programme for the last year, listening to member feedback and taking into account their priorities and expectations for travel. Through this we have refined a programme that will provide members with the ability and incentive to travel more sustainably, while further reinforcing our position as a planet-conscious travel and lifestyle brand.”

Over the last two years, despite the challenges of COVID-19, Etihad has introduced a number of significant CO2 reduction initiatives under its Greenliner sustainability programme. This includes adopting thousands of mangroves, using sustainable fuels, reducing contrails, flying optimised flight paths, operating more electric vehicles and working with partners who share its vision for cleaner skies.

At the recent Dubai Airshow, Etihad expanded its strategic sustainability programme to unite industry leaders including Boeing, Airbus, GE and Rolls-Royce in the most comprehensive, cross-organisational aviation sustainability initiative ever undertaken.

In October, Etihad operated its most sustainable flight ever, leveraging the learnings and efficiencies developed over the last two years to reduce carbon emissions by 72% in absolute terms compared to the equivalent flight operated in 2019. 

The EY20 Sustainable Flight is an example of what the future of commercial air travel looks like. The fact that sustainability has stayed on the agenda during the pandemic is testament to just how important the topic is to Etihad.

Throughout 2021, Etihad expanded its carbon offset programme to support Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park project and Indonesia’s Katingan Mentaya Project in partnership with Respira, Shell and CarbonClick. At the same time, Etihad offset the emissions of its signature Greenliner aircraft for the entire year, the equivalent to approximately 80,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.