The true cost of air travel on the environment has been revealed in Boeing's annual report, which says every single jet aircraft delivered to airlines by the company this year will pump out on average emissions equivalent to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide over their expected 20 year lifespan.

Website Forecast International says it expects Boeing to deliver 339 aircraft in total in 2021, taking the total emissions to 339 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over 20 years. That's the equivalent of approximately ten years worth of Aotearoa's carbon dioxide emissions.

Earlier this year, Boeing rival Airbus released data that showed that the 1,429 planes sold in 2019 and 2020 will produce over 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide during their lifespan.

Boeing is beginning the process of making huge environmental changes to the aircraft it manufactures and the aviation industry as a whole by releasing its plan to make its aircraft capable of flying on 100 percent sustainable fuels by 2030.

The company has committed to less waste across all of its worksites, too. It's aiming to achieve net-zero carbon emissions at work sites, as well as reducing energy consumption by 12 percent, water use by 23 percent, solid waste by 44 percent and hazardous waste by 34 percent.