A new study from the Atmosfair Airline Index shows that airlines are not keeping their CO2 emissions constant and they're not reducing them either.
The report was released on December 8th as a means to "make climate efficiency a factor of competition among the airlines. It can only benefit climate protection if the CO2-performance of the various airlines are brought to light and into the public."
The Paris Climate Agreement called for a rapid reduction of CO2 emissions worldwide, but from this Atmosfair report, it appears that only one in 10 airlines keeps its CO2 emissions constant.
While All Nippon Airlines, American Airlines, Finnair, and Thai Airways have managed to achieve carbon neutral growth, they still failed at overall efficiency.
Only South America's LATAM and Great Britain's TUI received a "B" grade for overall efficiency. No airlines received an "A." LATAM and TUI use newer 737s which contributed to improved efficiency and their B rating.
The report explained that new aircrafts like the Boeing 787-9, Airbus A350-900 or the A320neo are more carbon efficient, and yet, these new models do not make a majority of any airline's fleet.
"Our results show that the efficiency improvements of the vast majority of airlines worldwide is not sufficient [to keep within the] 2 [degree Celsius] or 1.5 [degree Celsius] target [of the Paris Climate Accord]," Atmosfair Executive Director Dietrich Brockhagen told the Guardian.
"We need new, synthetic and CO2-neutral fuels and other more radical measures to curb CO2 emissions in the sector."
"You cannot beat physics, therefore long-haul flights will not be feasible with heavy batteries and electric engines," Brockhagen said.
"But you can produce carbon-neutral kerosene synthetically, using carbon extracted from the air, water and green electricity. This is ready technologically, but 10 times more expensive per gallon than fossil kerosene. Who will invest the billions to scale this technology up? If airlines grouped together they could do it, but this would require an international spirit of cooperation over competition, so far rarely seen in the industry."
CO2 emissions from airlines grew by 5% around the world, and with air travel projected to increase each year, Atmosfair is unsure how the airline industry will lower their CO2 emissions to be in-line with the Paris Agreement's goal of being CO2 free by 2050.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
