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Sustainable Model is Good for Costa Rica Airlines Business

Costa Rica-based Alex E Khajavi, founder-CEO and chairman of the world's first and only carbon-neutral airline, Nature Air, was in India, exploring possible collaborative projects with his counterparts here that would focus on environment-friendly aviation. He spoke with Narayani Ganesh in New Delhi on the sidelines of a meeting with members of the Pacific Area Travel Association:

Q: How is Nature Air a carbon-neutral airline?

At Nature Air, we calculate the carbon dioxide (CO2) our planes emit and calculate the forest area that would sequester the carbon. We have allotted 2.7 per cent of our total pre-tax revenue for this. We have not transferred the cost to passengers. Maybe after three years we could offer a voluntary levy so that 50 per cent of costs of carbon offsetting could be borne by passengers. After that, we could go for an airport charge, a CO2 tax, with government help.

Q: How do you execute the scheme?

We pay the 2.7 per cent amount to FONAFIFO (Costa Rica's National Forest Fund), our certification agent. It finds properties we like to reforest or to pay farmers for not cutting down forests. Between 1995 and 2006, it could incorporate more than 500,000 hectares of forests and forest plantations that directly benefited more than 11,000 people in Costa Rica. We are protecting primary and secondary forests in the Osa Peninsula. We set great store by local presence. That is, all initiatives to go green should be credible, accountable, and have philanthropic and humanitarian benefits that are visible locally. This would ensure transparency.

Q: How long did it take Nature Air to grow viable?

When the airline was started in 2001, we had just one plane, 17 employees, no other assets, and a liability of $ 700,000. Today, we are Costa Rica's premier airline with 50 per cent market share and growing; we have 74 daily flights to 17 destinations in three countries; and we are the largest charter operator in Costa Rica. We now have 10 planes and 120 employees. We offset 4,650 tones of CO2 in 2004 — emitted by all routes — by protecting 39 hectares as forest. In 2006, we offset 5,800 tones. Our CO2 certificates have helped us become a catalyst for change through a credible and sustainable business model. Nature Air is proof that a sustainable business model is good for business. By contrast, on one route, New York to London, a B-747 aircraft emits 160,600 tones CO2 for which you would need to protect 6,649 hectares of forest.

Q: What are your plans in India?

I am looking to PATA to make introductions. I like to use short runways to access small destinations. In Costa Rica, Nature Air uses 1,200 short, mostly dirt runways. Nine of them are dirt gravel. For instance, you need smaller airplanes to service the Delhi-Jaipur-Agra triangle.

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