Rex says
Everyday utility math — the kind you'd otherwise pull up four browser tabs for. I keep it to one clean answer.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Total CO2e emissions (kg)
665
Per passenger per leg (kg)
665
Total (metric tonnes)
0.67
Tree-years to offset
32
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One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter flight distance (miles).
- 2Enter cabin class.
- 3Enter trip type.
- 4Enter number of passengers.
- 5Read your total co2e emissions (kg) on the right — it updates as you type.
- 6Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Flight emissions per passenger depend heavily on distance (short flights waste proportionally more fuel on takeoff and landing) and cabin class (premium seats take up more of the plane's total footprint per passenger). This calculator uses distance-banded emission factors similar to those published by DEFRA and ICAO's carbon calculator methodology, applying a radiative forcing multiplier to account for the additional warming effect of contrails and high-altitude emissions beyond just CO2 mass. Domestic short-haul flights run roughly 0.15-0.20 kg CO2e per passenger-mile, long-haul flights improve to around 0.10-0.13 kg CO2e per passenger-mile due to better fuel efficiency at altitude, and business/first class roughly doubles to quadruples the per-passenger figure due to lower seat density.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Flight distance: 2500 miles
- Cabin class: Economy
- Trip type: One-way
- Number of passengers: 1
Results
- Total CO2e emissions (kg): 665
- Per passenger per leg (kg): 665
- Total (metric tonnes): 0.67
- Tree-years to offset: 32
What each field means
Inputs
- Flight distance (miles)
- The flight distance used in the calculation, measured in miles. Starts at 2500 miles so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 50–10000 miles.
- Cabin class
- Pick the option that matches your situation — the maths changes per option. Choices: Economy, Premium economy, Business, First.
- Trip type
- Pick the option that matches your situation — the maths changes per option. Choices: One-way, Round-trip.
- Number of passengers
- The number of passengers used in the calculation. Starts at 1 so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–10.
Results
- Total CO2e emissions (kg)
- Returned as a whole number and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Per passenger per leg (kg)
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total (metric tonnes)
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Tree-years to offset
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why is short-haul flying more carbon-intensive per mile than long-haul?
Takeoff and climb burn a disproportionate amount of fuel regardless of trip length, so that fixed fuel cost gets spread over fewer total miles on a short flight. A one-hour flight can emit nearly double the CO2 per mile of a ten-hour flight on the same aircraft type.
Why does business class have a much higher footprint than economy?
Emissions per flight are largely fixed regardless of cabin class, but business and first-class seats take up several times the floor space of an economy seat, so fewer passengers share that same total footprint, quadrupling the per-passenger allocation in premium cabins.
What is the radiative forcing multiplier and why include it?
Aircraft emit at high altitude where contrails, water vapor, and NOx have additional warming effects beyond CO2 alone. Climate scientists commonly apply a multiplier around 1.9-2x to CO2-only figures to represent total climate impact, which most credible flight carbon calculators (including ICAO's) now include.
How many trees would offset a typical round-trip flight?
A mature tree absorbs roughly 21 kg of CO2 per year, so a 2,500-mile round-trip economy flight (~1,200 kg CO2e) would need about 57 tree-years of absorption — one reason offset programs plant many trees per flight rather than one.
Accuracy and limitations
- Estimates assume standard, average conditions — local rules, pricing, and materials vary.
- Results are rounded for readability; add a buffer before ordering, booking, or committing.
- Double-check anything with a real cost attached against a local quote.
Related tools
Driving Carbon Footprint Calculator
Estimate CO2 emissions from a car trip based on distance, fuel economy, and fuel type.
Tree Carbon Offset Calculator
Estimate how many trees and years are needed to offset a given amount of CO2.
Home Carbon Footprint Calculator
Estimate annual household CO2 emissions from electricity, natural gas, and heating fuel use.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Flight Carbon Footprint Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/carbon-footprint-flight
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/carbon-footprint-flight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flight Carbon Footprint Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Flight Carbon Footprint Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/carbon-footprint-flight) (2026).