Australia’s consumer watchdog has been asked to investigate Qantas for greenwashing, but experts say consumers also have a role to play in travel sustainability.

The official complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was prepared by research and advocacy organisation Climate Integrity and filed by the Environmental Defenders Office on Wednesday.

The complaint said Qantas may be misleading consumers with sustainability claims, particularly regarding the airline’s ‘Fly Carbon Neutral’ option, promotion of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and the goal of transition to net zero by 2050.

Climate Integrity director Claire Snyder told TND international crackdowns on airlines’ misleading sustainability claims had encouraged the organisation to take similar action in Australia.

The hopes is that Qantas won’t be the only airline under the microscope.

“We have focused on Qantas because that’s the airline that we have done deep-dive analysis on – the largest airline, the biggest emitter,” Snyder said.

“But in our complaint, we have asked the ACCC to consider how … these claims are being made industry wide.”

This follows a landmark ruling by an Amsterdam court in March.

It found Dutch airline KLM guilty of misleading customers with vague environmental claims and painting “an overly rosy picture” of SAF.

In April, the European Commission, along with Belgian, Dutch, Norwegian and Spanish consumer protection authorities, began taking action against 20 airlines for misleading greenwashing practices around carbon offsets and SAF.

Consumers also responsible for sustainability

Although it is the responsibility of the aviation sector and government to lower the environmental impact of commercial firms, Griffith University professor in aviation Tim Ryley said consumers may also need to bear the cost of change.

Developing new fuels, technology and infrastructure is pricey, putting upwards pressure on airfares.

International travellers have already been affected.

In February, Singapore announced a plan to introduce a ‘green fuel levy’ on flights by 2026, as the country aims for all departing flights to use 1 per cent SAF the same year.

The amount paid by consumers will vary based on factors like the flight distance and travel class.

In April, Virgin Atlantic revealed it would roll out a ‘green tax’ on airfares over the next 18 months, following similar moves from airlines such as Lufthansa and Swiss.

Snyder said frequent flyer demand management tactics should also be considered, such as a frequent flyer levy.

“We’re not talking about people … taking their annual Christmas holiday to see their family,” she said.

“But [for] those parts of the market that are taking dozens and dozens of flights each year, is there a way to reduce demand for that?

“Everybody pays a levy when you book a flight.

“But you pay the same whether you fly once a year or you’re flying 25 times a year, and so the idea of a frequent flyer levy means that progressively increases the more flights you take.”

Currently, consumers can lessen the environmental impact of their travels by:

• Limiting the amount of flights taken every year to the least amount possible
• If travelling domestically, choose to travel via bus or train
• Consider avoiding ultra-long-haul flights such as Qantas’s 20-hour Project Sunrise routes (delayed until 2026), as these flights reportedly produce more carbon emissions than two shorter flights with a stopover.

Potential issues with Qantas’s sustainability claims

When buying tickets, Qantas customers can choose to pay extra to fly carbon neutral to offset the carbon emissions of their flight.

The airline says the money goes towards projects that meet its “internal requirements” for integrity which remove, reduce or avoid an equivalent amount of emissions outside the aviation industry.

But Snyder said contributing to conservation does not neutralise the negative effects of flights, as carbon dioxide emissions can remain in the atmosphere for more than 1000 years.

Qantas has also placed SAF at the centre of its plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

SAF are fuels made from products such as biomass, waste products, natural oils and fats, and are reportedly capable of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 per cent.

Ryley said SAF could improve the environmental impact of flights, but supply challenges and technical innovations meant these fuels should not carry the weight of airlines’ net-zero ambitions.

Instead, SAF should be developed alongside other emerging options such as hydrogen and battery-powered planes.

“[Airlines] need to work out ways of trying to lead in this space and … rather than throwing everything at SAF, they also need to look at other environmental options,” Ryley said.

A Qantas Group spokesperson told TND the airline had a responsibility to do what it could with what was currently available.

“High-integrity carbon offsets are key to us meeting net emissions-reduction targets until sustainable aviation fuel and low and zero-emissions technologies are more readily available,” they said.

“That’s why we launched a $400 million climate fund with Airbus to provide direct investments to help accelerate the establishment of a domestic SAF industry as well as high-integrity nature-based solutions.

“The journey to net-zero emissions won’t be linear and one airline will not be able to solve this alone … We understand that the regulation and science behind carbon offsets and SAF is developing, like all aspects of decarbonisation, and that targets, availability and effectiveness may change.”

The spokesperson said Qantas had offered to work closely with Climate Integrity and had also reached out to the ACCC.

The latest complaint to the ACCC comes a week after a Melbourne court confirmed Qantas would pay a $1o0 million fine and $20 million to affected customers after the airline admitted to selling thousands of tickets for cancelled flights.