Low-cost airline easyJet and Bristol Airport in the southwest of the UK have partnered to align on their common sustainability goals.
According to the airport, the partnership will involve a series of trials all geared toward the overall ambition to achieve zero-emission turnarounds at Bristol, alongside taking steps to contribute positively toward reducing easyJet’s overall carbon footprint.
Jane Ashton, director of sustainability at easyJet, said, “easyJet takes sustainability seriously, already offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used on all our flights as an interim measure while we continue to champion the development of new technology. We will continue to optimize our operational fuel and carbon-efficiency and review what further measures we can take to reduce emissions across our operations.
“This partnership with Bristol Airport is a good example of how we can look at every aspect of our operations, really challenging how we do things by implementing the newest technological solutions across a series of decarbonization and waste reduction trials over the coming months.”
The joint partnership will study a wide range of developments and operational efficiencies, with easyJet using Bristol Airport as a testbed to trial and implement the latest technological and innovative solutions for decarbonizing its operations and reducing waste. It’s hoped that any successful results from the trials will have the potential to be rolled out across easyJet’s network which spans 150 airports across 35 countries.
Projects and trials will include work in the following areas:
- Electric ground power units.
- Sustainable aviation fuels.
- Electric passenger coach transportation.
- Recycling and waste management.
- Employee carbon-saving initiatives.
- Supply chain carbon reductions.
- Aircraft continuous descent approaches.
- Zero carbon emission aircraft turnarounds.
- Neo aircraft deployment and fleet optimization.
Simon Earles, sustainability and corporate affairs director, Bristol Airport, said, “By the end of 2021 we will be a carbon neutral airport for emissions under our direct control, exceeding our own target, four years ahead of schedule. The easyJet commitment follows on from the work we have already started in announcing an Aviation Carbon Transition (ACT) program.
“The ACT program will support initiatives and projects reducing direct and indirect emissions from airport infrastructure to enable lower/zero emissions; research and development of decarbonization or alternative fuels for use by airlines; design and develop processes and procedures to eliminate emissions and demonstrating our commitment to working with others to support innovation in relation to decarbonizing transport and flight emissions outside of our direct control.”
