Airbus, Air France-KLM, ATR, Dassault Aviation, Groupe ADP, Safran and Thales have jointly welcomed the declaration made in Toulouse by the European Commission and Member States under the French EU Presidency to work together with the European aviation industry to achieve the decarbonisation of the sector by 2050 in alignment with the Destination 2050 roadmap.
The industry bodies have declared that they “continue to invest in the maturation, development and implementation of decarbonisation technologies - notably operations, next-generation aircraft and engines, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and synthetic fuels - and look to institutions to support the development and deployment of innovations, especially through proven public-private research partnership instruments (such as Clean Aviation, SESAR, and CORAC), as well as appropriate support policies to accelerate fleet renewal and SAF incorporation under viable economic conditions for all stakeholders”.
The group has urged the European Commission to implement the launch of industrial alliances they say will be critical to align the entire ecosystem around this joint ambition, particularly the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain Industrial Alliance, the Alliance for Zero Emission Aviation and the European Raw Materials Alliance.
The group has also welcomed the call for all partners worldwide to work together towards the adoption at the 41st ICAO Assembly of an ambitious long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) for international aviation.
“We call for the commitments taken by the European Union to be adopted globally to accelerate the decarbonisation of our industry. In the meantime, we urge the European Union to implement mechanisms to ensure a level playing field and to avoid any carbon leakage linked to distortion of competition among stakeholders within the global aviation ecosystem.”
This Toulouse Declaration is the first-ever public–private initiative supporting aviation’s decarbonisation goals, which has been signed by 35 European countries and 146 industry stakeholder groups. This agreement paves the way for the UN’s ICAO to deliver on strengthened climate goals at 2022 Assembly.
The Destination 2050 partners stated that they now expect the Toulouse Declaration to be translated into a “structured dialogue and concrete policy action” with industry that will review and complement the Fit for 55 legislative package with concrete and timely supportive measures. These are to include public and private funding to channel investments, R&D and innovation into decarbonisation and a more sustainable aviation ecosystem; initiatives and incentives for earmarking of revenues from ETS to support concrete decarbonisation activities within the civil aviation sector; as well as more sustainable airport infrastructure, operations and related services including through airport carbon accreditation; and public incentives for the deployment of sustainable aviation fuels. Fleet renewal coupled with aircraft retirement, and for bringing zero-emission aircraft to the market by 2035 – including through the supply of green hydrogen and electricity (and its deployment via related airport infrastructure); and for a more sustainable, network-centric, modern and digital Air Traffic Management system through the Single European Sky and SESAR.
easyJet adopts SkyBreathe 360° eco-flying platform to reduce CO2 emissions
easyJet has chosen SkyBreathe, an eco-flying solution to reduce the fuel burn and thus CO2 emissions of their fleet, as part of its ambition to reduce their carbon footprint from flying across Europe.
SkyBreathe is an eco-flying solution developed by OpenAirlines. It is based on cloud, artificial intelligence and big data and enables airlines to save fuel and claims to reduce their carbon footprint by up to 5%.
Under the agreement, the fuel management software will automatically collect and analyse the data from the 300+ aircraft operated by easyJet and combine them with data from other sources, including payload, weather conditions, maintenance, flight paths, and Air Traffic Control.
The solution will identify the most relevant fuel saving opportunities and generate actionable insights shared with all stakeholders through synthetic and easy-to-read dashboards. Based on this information, the airline will benefit from a thorough understanding of its operations. The solution allows for the implementation of the most efficient procedures on the ground (pushback, taxi, takeoff, turnaround, etc.) and during flight (climb, cruise, approach, landing, etc.) to maximize carbon reduction.
"easyJet has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions flying by 2050 and so we are working with a range of partners to reduce our carbon emissions today as well as accelerate the development of carbon-free technology in the future. The adoption of SkyBreathe enables us to more easily identify where improvements can be made now, which will play an important role in reducing our carbon emissions with immediate and concrete results. We continue to offset the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all our flights," said Captain David Morgan, Director of Flight Operations at easyJet.
"Today, our industry faces many challenges, but also an unprecedented opportunity to transform the way we fly. It is more important than ever for airlines to operate more sustainably and easyJet is taking full responsibility and leading the way to address the carbon impact from its flights. We're delighted to be working with such an enthusiastic and dedicated partner," said Alexandre Feray, CEO, OpenAirlines.
easyJet joins the community of 50+ airlines worldwide today using SkyBreathe, including Air France, Norwegian, IndiGo, Flydubai, and Atlas Air.