Travalyst Travel Impact Model FAQ

Skyscanner's flight emissions information is now powered by Travalyst.

Why are we switching to the new data?

We're part of Travalyst, a global alliance of leading travel and tourism service providers looking to help travellers be able to make more sustainable travel choices. Among other things, Travalyst aims to standardise aviation emissions calculations across the industry. By doing this, we can focus our collective efforts on two things:

• Increasing the accuracy of the emissions model and aligning it to other sustainability standards over time
• Ensuring that all our travellers understand the data and are empowered to use it when making their travel plans

We know both of these things are needed. In a recent Skyscanner survey, almost a quarter of travelers told us they want to travel more sustainably but don't know how, whilst one in five said they find it hard to find or understand information about sustainable air travel options. This new methodology will be used by Skyscanner and Google and will soon be integrated across Travalyst partners. This means ratings will be consistent across travel platforms, helping travelers build a clear and consistent picture of the options available to them.

Where does Skyscanner's emissions data come from?

Skyscanner's flight emissions data is powered by the Travel Impact Model (TIM).

What is the Travel Impact Model? 

The Travel Impact Model (TIM) is a method for calculating aviation emissions. The data is sourced and distributed by one or more Coalition Partners of Travalyst, a non-profit organization working with its Coalition Partners to bring about the systemic changes required to enable more sustainable travel, starting with creating open-source frameworks for the industry. TIM is the first for aviation, and with it we hope to help make carbon emissions reporting more standardized and transparent. 

How are emissions calculated? 

The model considers factors like aircraft type, engine efficiency, and distance between origin and destination to calculate emissions for the flight. An average load factor is then applied, and the total emissions are divided by the number of seats in each class to get emissions per passenger.

Why use the Travel Impact Model?

The TIM was not designed to be unique in the industry. In fact, the industry has so many different models for calculating aviation emissions that it can often be confusing for travelers and frustrating for airlines when they receive conflicting data from several sources. What TIM aims to do is help unify many models and increase transparency, as well as to make the data free and open source so it can be adopted widely. 

How accurate is the data?

The output of the model is already very accurate and will continue to become more accurate over time as more input data becomes available and the industry aligns more broadly on non-CO2e factors. 

Where can I learn more? 

You can read more about Travalyst, its work in aviation, and the TIM model here. 

What do I do if I still have questions? 

Please reach out to Partner Services if you still have questions or concerns.