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Return flight Helsinki–London (per passenger, economy)

Meno-paluulento Helsinki–Lontoo (per matkustaja, economy)

40
Truecost score
Data confidence: HIGH

Carbon is well-established via DEFRA/myclimate calculators. Water, land, toxicity have significant uncertainty.

A Helsinki–London return flight produces ~550 kg CO₂e per economy passenger, including radiative forcing from contrails and NOx at altitude.

Did you know? A single Helsinki–London return flight produces more CO₂ than the entire annual food footprint of an average person in many developing countries.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 550.0 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 100 ×0.35 35.00 HIGH
Water Consumption 280.0 liters 3840 liters 7.29 ×0.2 1.46 LOW
Land Use 0.5 m²·year 51 m²·year 0.98 ×0.2 0.20 LOW
Waste 0.3 kg 5 kg 6.0 ×0.15 0.90 MEDIUM
Toxicity 5.0 µDALY 162 µDALY 3.09 ×0.1 0.31 LOW
Truecost score (weighted sum) 40
Floor rule applied: Dimension "Carbon Emissions" exceeds 80 (100), so the total was raised to minimum 40 (computed: 37.86).

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions 57.89%
Water Consumption 0.07%
Land Use <0.01%
Waste 0.06%
Toxicity 0.03%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
Helsinki–London ~1,800 km one way, 3,600 km roundtrip. DEFRA 2023: medium-haul economy 0.153 kg CO₂e/pkm. 3,600 × 0.153 = 551 kg. Rounded to 550 kg. Includes radiative forcing multiplier (~1.9x for non-CO₂ effects at altitude).
  • UK DEFRA (2023): GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting — aviation
  • myclimate (2024): Flight emission calculator methodology
  • Lee et al. (2021): The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing — Atmospheric Environment

Range 470–720 kg depending on aircraft type, load factor, and whether non-CO₂ effects included. DEFRA includes radiative forcing.

Water Consumption
LOW
Jet fuel refining: ~1.5 L water/L fuel. Fuel per passenger ~110 L roundtrip. 110 × 1.5 = 165 L. Airport operations + catering ~115 L. Total ~280 L.
  • IATA (2023): Environmental report — water management
  • Wu & Chiu (2011): Life-cycle water consumption of petroleum refining

Aviation water footprint poorly studied. Estimate based on fuel refining water intensity.

Land Use
LOW
Helsinki-Vantaa + Heathrow combined ~3,000 ha. ~75 million passengers/year combined. Per roundtrip passenger: ~0.5 m²·year.
  • Finavia (2023): Helsinki Airport statistics
  • Heathrow (2023): Annual report

Airport land amortization is rough. Does not include approach zones.

Waste
MEDIUM
IATA estimates 1.4 kg cabin waste per passenger per flight segment. Economy class lower (~0.8 kg). Roundtrip: ~0.3 kg net waste (some recycled).
  • IATA (2023): Cabin Waste Handbook

Varies significantly by airline. Some airlines achieve near-zero landfill waste.

Toxicity
LOW
NOx emissions at cruise altitude form ozone, contributing to respiratory disease. Ultrafine particle exposure near airports. Rough DALY allocation per passenger-flight.
  • Yim et al. (2015): Global, regional and local health impacts of civil aviation emissions — Environmental Research Letters

Aviation health impacts are population-level; per-passenger allocation is inherently uncertain.

Comparisons

Methodology

DEFRA 2023 medium-haul economy factor (0.153 kg CO₂e/pkm) applied to 3,600 km roundtrip. Includes radiative forcing multiplier. Water estimated from fuel refining intensity.

Sources