Darrell Wade, co-founder and CEO of Intrepid Travel, writes: Does it piss you off when our domestic airlines charge you an extra $10 for checked luggage?

I know I’m putting myself in the firing line here but I actually think airlines should charge for every kilo of luggage we take with us.

I can hear the shouts of disapproval but hear me out; this is worth a closer look.

Granted, it does sound strange for a tour operator to support anything that makes travel more expensive, but I travel a heap and I feel guilty about every kilo. So I started thinking about it a bit…

How much fuel does it take to lift your luggage to 30,000 feet? It would take more than a mars a day to carry it on your back!

Here are the facts…

On a short haul flight (1,000 km), 1.32 kg of CO2 is emitted per kg carried.

On a long haul flight (5,000 km), 3.05 kg of CO2 is emitted per kg carried.

Expressed another way, UK Government data tells us that for every kilometre travelled on a UK domestic commercial flight, 1.9 kilos of CO2 per each tonne onboard is released into the atmosphere.

For a short haul flight from the UK, it is 1.32kg of CO2 per tonne and for a long haul flight, 61 kg of CO2 per tonne.

So what do you think?

Is our green rhetoric enough for us to be prepared to pay for every kilo of luggage we take with us?

Does this additional airline charge make you think twice about what you’re packing? Because your hip pocket is hurting or because you care about the environment?

Should overweight people pay more for an airline seat than skinny ones? (There IS talk of this!)

Can you really travel around Europe with one pair of underpants and a toothbrush?

What do you think the answer is?

I’d love to hear your thoughts….