June 16, 2022
Fortunately, initiatives and strategies aimed at taking responsibility for reducing the climate footprint in the aviation industry are becoming increasingly widespread.
At Vestergaard Company, we experience that an increasing number of our customers prioritize sustainable products when making their purchases. The incentive to do so is in no way diminished by the fact that our customers – and their sustainable agendas – within a short time horizon have zero emissions as part of their primary objectives.
An airline with big ambitions for sustainable operation is easyJet.
CO2 emissions from air travel contribute to climate change, and when – like easyJet – you fly with around 96 million passengers annually*), the company wants to take responsibility for reorganizing its operations and minimizing the environmental impact of its flights.
easyJet is a low-cost company, but there is certainly no discount about the company’s approach to the green transition. Johan Lundgren, CEO, says: “At easyJet, we want to lead the decarbonization of aviation and ultimately achieve zero emissions across Europe.”
easyJet handles the reduction of its CO2 emissions in two ways – partly by working tirelessly to minimize CO2 emissions in existing operations and partly by striving towards using carbon-free solutions in the future.
At the COP26 summit in 2021, easyJet joined Race to Zero, the UN campaign to achieve zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
To achieve its ambitious climate goals, easyJet has, among other things, launched the following initiatives:
- In the short term, easyJet’s focus is on operating as efficiently as possible; to focus on an operation where both noise and unnecessary use of fuel on the flights are minimized and where the aircraft are filled with passengers.
- Airbus NEO aircraft are continuously added to the easyJet fleet. These aircraft are 15% more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace and have a noise reduction of 50%. Taken together, these initiatives mean that easyJet has reduced its CO2 emissions per year since 2000 – over a 20-year period – per passenger per kilometer by over a third.
- By the end of 2021, more than 36 million disposable plastic materials had been removed from the flights.
- Investment in new crew uniforms made from recycled materials.
- Finally, easyJet has decided to focus on collaborating with partners across the industry that develop zero-emission technology in the future.
The airlines’ sustainable agendas also create increased focus on the green transition of their subcontractors. An example is the recent order to Vestergaard Company from dnata in Zurich that is
investing heavily in green transition. To service easyJet, dnata has invested in five new e-BETA deicers that reduce CO2 emissions from deicing by up to 87%. Furthermore, easyJet has had a project at Bristol Airport with a green turnaround that reduces CO2 emissions by 97%, and where Vestergaard Company contributed with an electric toilet service unit.