Ryanair, Europe’s greenest/cleanest airline, today (16 Dec) celebrated its Swords, Co. Dublin, based employees who volunteered to visit the wildfire ravaged region of Monchique in Portugal this weekend.

On Saturday (14 Dec), a group of 50 volunteers – which included Dublin and Faro based Ryanair employees as well as volunteers from the local community – planted over 2,000 trees, helping to restore the region destroyed by the 2018 fires.

The “Renature Monchique” project is part of Ryanair’s Carbon Offset Initiative funded by customers. In October, Ryanair donated €250,000 to the project which will pay for the planting of thousands of trees in the area – it has already funded the planting of 15,000 trees since November this year.

Ryanair is Europe’s greenest airline, operating the youngest fleet with the highest load factors, and the most efficient fuel burn per passenger. Ryanair delivers industry-leading CO2 emissions per passenger-km of just 66g, which is up to 50% lower than Europe’s other 4 big airlines.

Ryanair’s Alejandra Ruiz said:

“We are delighted to support this reforestation initiative in the Monchique region of the Algarve. Our customers have embraced our carbon offset programme with their generous donations funding the planting of 15,000 trees in the region since November.

We are extremely proud of these eco-conscious customers, and this week we are especially proud of our people who volunteered to visit Monchique and work tirelessly to plant 2,000 Monchique oaks, cork oaks and chestnut trees to help restore the mountain habitats.”

RTA’s President João Fernandes said:

“We thank the team of volunteers from Ryanair who have contributed to restoring the region’s mountains to their natural state. We are focused on implementing our environmental strategy which includes nature conservation, safeguarding biodiversity, environmental education and investment in energy efficiency.”

GEOTA’s president Marlene Marques said:

“This tree planting activity allowed the active participation of the community and partners in the process of renaturation of the Monchique mountains, an essential stage for the recovery of the region’s natural heritage.”