Travellers flying on Virgin Atlantic will soon be offered carbon offsets alongside alcohol and perfume in front of their fellow passengers in an effort to shame them into buying them.

The cost of carbon offsetting will depend on the length of the flight and the class of seat. While a one-way economy flight from London to New York will cost slightly more than £5 ($11) to offset, a one-way business-class flight from London to Sydney would cost about £26.

A spokesman for Virgin said the airline had decided on the policy after noticing low participation in schemes offered by competing airlines through which customers were presented with the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions of their flight online.

"If the person sitting next to you chooses to offset their flight, it may prick your conscience and you may pay too," the spokesman told the Times of London.

"We could see half the plane decide to offset. We are making this scheme as accessible as possible and we believe it will be the acid test of whether people really are willing to offset their emissions."

But a British consumer group, Which, expressed concern about putting customers in a difficult position and forcing them to pay for something they did not want.

Agence France-Presse