EasyJet is planning to switch from orange to green. Not because the recognisable livery of the low-cost airline's aircraft is about to be changed, but because the company is resolutely committed to the environment. on the road to net zero emissions by 2050. After signing up last year to the "Race to Zero" programme, supported by the United Nations, easyjet has just unveiled a roadmap, which it likes to call "a roadmap for the future". the most ambitious airline to date" . Its targets are aligned with the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and therefore no longer take into account flight offsetting, a strategy that easyJet will be abandoning at the end of the year to focus on decarbonising its own operations.
" Questioning and challenging the status quo is in our DNAsaid easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren. We made air travel affordable for everyone more than 25 years ago, and today we are leading the decarbonisation of the sector.. " As part of its strategy to achieve zero-carbon flights, the British airline is banking on the technologies currently being developed - hydrogen, carbon removal and sustainable fuel. When these technologies become available, they should enable the company to reduce its carbon footprint.eliminate 78 % of its carbon emissions per passenger/kilometre by 2050, taking 2019 as the baseline, with the remainder covered by carbon removal.
In the short term, easyJet is counting on the resources currently at its disposal, starting with
fleet renewal and the introduction of more energy-efficient aircraft to replace older models. " Although our ultimate ambition is to operate zero-carbon flights, we must continue to focus on reducing carbon emissions from our day-to-day operations" says David Morgan, captain and acting COO of easyJet. In this context, the company plans to invest more than 20 billion dollars over the next few years to acquire 168 Airbus 320neo15% on average. These aircraft will join the 59 NEO aircraft already in the fleet.
Another investment, this one concerning its operations, will see easyJet spend several million pounds on software including Airbus Descent Profile Optimisation (DPO) and Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) functions. The key benefits of this downhill optimisationreductions in carbon emissions announced as ". substantial" . This efficiency gain could be further enhanced by the introduction of the "Single European Sky", which could generate a 10% reduction in emissions and which easyjet is calling for: " Industry alone cannot reduce carbon emissions nowsaid David Morgan. This is why we are also calling on all governments to encourage the modernisation of airspace now."
Another way of reducing its carbon bill, sustainable fuel - or SAF for "sustainable air fuel" - is naturally playing an important part in easyJet's strategy. While last year the airline operated at London Gatwick flights incorporating 30% of SAF supplied by Q8Aviation, easyJet has signed a contract with this supplier guaranteeing the supply of SAF required by its route map for the next five years.
But the airline is also looking to the future and the expected arrival of hydrogen-powered aircraft. A horizon that is gradually drawing closer as Rolls-Royce, easyJet's partner, is due to make its first hydrogen-powered aircraft available in the near future. the first ground tests of hydrogen combustion engines for single-aisle aircraft. While ADEME, for example, sees more potential for this technology on long-haul routes, easyJet believes that " On the basis of current technological advances, hydrogen offers the greatest decarbonisation potential for a short-haul airline". Let's accept the omen.
