Air New Zealand has announced it's offering passengers the chance to pay a fee to offset the pollution caused by flights.
The airline wants those who fly to back its commitment to the environment.
"I'm sure it will make some meaningful change in our local environment and have an impact on environmental research and development," says Rob Fyfe, Air New Zealand chief executive.
The airline is putting up $450,000 to kick start a trust and hopes to raise several million dollars more from passengers.
Anyone booking online, will be asked to make a donation and to make voluntary carbon offset payments.
The charge for a return flight from Auckland to Wellington will be $4.50, from Christchurch to Sydney $13.70 and from Auckland to Los Angeles it's $88.
Passenger reaction to the concept - and cost - is mostly positive.
Two out of three people spoken to by ONE News said they would pay the fee to help the environment. The third said she can't afford airfares now, let alone paying extra.
The trust's first project involves planting 85,000 trees on a conservation block at the historic Mangarara Station in Hawke's Bay.
An Air New Zealand corporate video says in a few years time, visitors will see a blanket of native trees down a gully on the station.
Mangarara's owners first approached Air New Zealand wanting to convert some airpoints into trees, but the airline took the concept a stage further.
"Hopefully there's going to be a benefit to New Zealand agriculture, New Zealand generally, and also to our image of a clean green country around the world." says Greg Hart, Mangarara Station owner.
But sceptics say Air NZ is just getting on the feel good bandwagon.
"The offset market is very dodgy and we know that there a a lot
of offsets which people buy which actually don't really represent
real reductions in carbon dioxide," says Bryan Leyland, an
independent energy consultant.
The public will be invited to the Mangarara plantation, but there's
no carbon offset for the long drive to Hawke's Bay.
Air New Zealand will make regular contributions as a means of offsetting the carbon footprint of its staff travelling by air on business.
The airline aims to take a key leadership role on environmental matters in the aviation industry. It wants to be at the forefront of the drive to develop sustainable fuels for air travel through a partnership with Boeing and Rolls Royce.
It says it also wants to have the world's youngest and most fuel efficient long haul fleet within five years, and has reduced CO2 emissions on the jet fleet by more than 100,000 tonnes over the past three years.
This has been done through initiatives such as weight reduction, continuous descent profiles and greater use of ground power while aircraft are at airport gates, it says.
