UAE’s Etihad launches Conscious Choices, world’s first green loyalty programme

Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme of Etihad Airways, has introduced a series of sustainability-focused initiatives to reward members for making ‘green’ choices.

Conscious Choices, the new range of sustainable initiatives offered by the Etihad Guest programme, has been created to support Etihad’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, and halve its 2019 emissions by 2035.

Conscious Choices will rewards these with Tier Miles and additional benefits for carrying less baggage on board and offsetting their flights’ carbon emissions using Etihad Guest Miles.

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 opt for a digital membership card instead of physical one. Etihad is reportedly 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.

“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,” said Tony Douglas, group chief executive efficer, Etihad Aviation Group.

“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.”

Over the last two years, Etihad has introduced several CO2 reduction initiatives under its Greenliner sustainability programme. This includes adopting thousands of mangroves, using sustainable fuels, reducing contrails, flying optimised flight paths, and operating more electric vehicles.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways launches region’s first aircraft carbon offset programme

At the recent Dubai Airshow, Etihad expanded its strategic sustainability programme uniting 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 per cent 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. Throughout 2021, Etihad also 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. Parallelly, Etihad offset the emissions of its signature Greenliner aircraft for the entire year, the equivalent to approximately 80,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

In October, the carrier also raised $1.2bn in the first sustainability-linked loan (SLL) tied to environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets in global aviation.

Read: Etihad raises $1.2bn in aviation’s first sustainability-linked ESG loan