Green wings: Inside airlines’ quest to become more environment-friendly

“A soul in tension that’s learning to fly Condition grounded but determined to try…” Learning to Fly, Pink Floyd (1987)

These lines from the iconic British rock band Pink Floyd’s 1987 hit are emblematic of aviation. For, it’s trying and trying again that has enabled humankind to fulfil its dream to fly. And amid warnings of a changing climate, there is a growing aspiration to make flying sustainable. But since caring for the environment demands a massive overhaul of existing technologies as well as copious expenditure, it’s not going to be easy. So, when Air India’s low-cost subsidiary AirAsia India successfully operated the country’s first commercial flight on the Pune-Delhi sectors using an indigenously produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blend on the morning of May 19, the world’s fastest-growing aviation market achieved yet another milestone on its flight towards sustainability.

“SAF’s efficacy as an aviation fuel has already been proven across the world. Within the country, we have put in place some thoughts in terms of what that mix should be and we’re looking at blending 1 per cent of SAF by 2025, 2 per cent by 2028, and 5 per cent by 2030 in regular aviation turbine fuel (ATF),” Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, tells Business Today.

For the past several months, Scindia’s ministry has been coordinating with the Ministry of Petroleum and Nat­ural Gas on guidelines for promoting SAF by getting Ind­ian carriers to use it with ATF. “By 2025, if we ta­r­get bl­ending 1 per cent SAF in jet fuel, India would req­uire ar­ound 140 million litres of SAF per annum. More am­bi­tiously, if we target for 5 per cent SAF blend, India re­quires around 700 million litres of SAF per annum,” says Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Globally, aviation accounts for over 2 per cent of man-made carbon emissions, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In 2021, IATA’s members committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 on projections of the sector generating 1.8 billion tonnes of emissions if fuelled by ATF. To achieve this, 65 per cent of the emission reductions will, in all probability, need to come from SAF.

SAF represents a broad category of fuels derived from non-fossil sources, including advanced biofuels and electrofuels (e-fuels). However, the real challenges lie in logistics and costing. “The problem globally, and for India, is ensuring that SAF actually gets produced and the logistics of bringing it from the site of production to the bowser that goes to refill the aircraft,” says Scindia. Similarly, depending on whether it is produced from recycled waste or synthetic fuel, it can be two to five times costlier than standard jet fuel, according to IATA estimates. And this is where Minister Puri senses India’s potential to become a surplus and cost-effective producer of SAF. “India has feedstock for potential production of 19-24 million tonnes (MT) of SAF per year, whereas the estimated maximum requirement of SAF in India, considering 50 per cent blend, is around 8-10 MT per year by 2030,” he dec­l­ares. The biofuel powering the AirAsia India flight, for instance, was developed us­ing alcohol-to-jet technology, using sugarcane molasses as feedstock.

From Airlines to Airports

The environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy of IndiGo—India’s largest carrier by fleet and market size—is premised on balancing the ambition and practical limitations of the aviation se­c­tor. Since 2015, the low-cost carrier has been working towards reducing emission intensity by 18 per cent by 2023. Highlighting the role of technology, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers says, “Today, it may look like there has hardly been any change in aviation technology. However, if you see how an Airbus 321neo compares in fuel consumption to a plane 15 years ago, hardly any industries have created such a step up in efficiency.” Consequently, the airline has been consistently adding more fuel-efficient Airbus A320ceo and A321neo aircraft to acquire one of the youngest fleets globally. Other measures include single-engine taxiing, reduction in hold fuel to lower aircraft weight and route savings.

Air India is also making a concerted effort at sustainability as a Tata group firm. “It adds to the impetus to do more when it comes to en­vironmental responsibility. Making sure that we have a yo­ung and modern fleet; that we have all of those things that save weight on an aircraft; that we are pushing the developments and logistics pipeline of synthetic fuels that are not derived from fossil fuel sources,” says Air India CEO Campbell Wilson.

But it was the Gurugram-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet that operated the country’s first SAF blended flight in August 2018. The carrier has set a target of flying 100 million domestic passengers on SAF blend by 2030. “Aviation is a key economic enabler, yet increasing access to air travel and its benefits must not come at the cost of the environment,” says Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet. Besides, SpiceJet is also the first Indian carrier to use a taxi-bot for taxiing to the runway; it has also introduced electric tarmac coaches.

Akasa Air, the country’s newest scheduled carrier, often likes to describe itself as “India’s greenest airline”. It has taken several steps to reduce its environmental impact, including fuel-efficient engines on its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, crew uniforms developed using plastic bottles salvaged from marine waste and eco-friendly in-flight meal packaging. “A key decision was to move away from the ceremonial water cannon salutes at flight and route inaugurations for management of water wastage, which has resulted in saving approximately 300,000 litres of water to date,” says Belson Coutinho, the airline’s Co-founder and Chief Marketing and Experience Officer.

Besides, most major carriers are collaborating with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), Dehradun, for the research, development and deployment of SAFs. This programme’s importance can be gauged from the fact that state-owned Engineers India (EIL) has also joined the SAF bandwagon. “EIL is playing a crucial role in providing technological solutions for decarbonising the aviation sector in collaboration with CSIR-IIP. In this regard, we are providing technology support and consultancy services for production of bio-ATF for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL),” says Vartika Shukla, EIL’s Chairman and Managing Director.

The civil aviation ministry is simultaneously conducting an audit of airport assets to reduce the CO2 footprint, with 11 airports in the private sector and close to 96 of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to be completely carbon-neutral by the second quarter of 2025. Already, the privately managed airports in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru have received the Airport Council International (ACI)’s prestigious level 4+ accreditation in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region, while the Hyderabad airport has received level 3+ accreditation.

However, a collaborative approach is important. “As a leading stakeholder in this sector, we understand the significance of phasing out fossil fuel-dependent equipment in ground handling and embracing eco-friendly solutions such as electric vehicles (EVs), bridge-mounted equipment, taxibots, etc.,” says Murali Ramachandran, the India CEO of Çelebi Aviation Holding.

Global Experience

Airlines the world over have become more conscious. For instance, on a recent United Airlines domestic flight in the US, an ad played on the in-flight entertainment screen. The airline has roped in the popular show Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch as its Chief Trash Officer!

Then there is Swiss Air, whose flight operations’ environmental performance is usually measured by fuel consumption. From this, key performance indicators (KPI) are derived, such as the fuel consumption to transport one passenger every 100 km or the CO2 emission by tonne kilometre transported. Additionally, the airline uses a software developed by Google Cloud to further optimise its flight operations. “We conduct applied research within the framework of the Single European Sky that advocates for a less fragmented airspace structure, so that aircraft can fly to their destinations without unnecessary detours, at the optimal flight altitudes and with continuous descent flights,” says Melanie Heiniger, Head of Sustainability at SWISS.

Conscious travellers

Consumers, too, are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their choices. For instance, the vegan options on board Emirates feature a variety of greens, fruits, and vegetables sourced from several UAE-based suppliers, including fresh locally grown kale and lettuce from Bustanica, the world’s largest hydroponic vertical farm. “As a result, we have seen a 154 per cent increase in vegan meals served onboard between 2021 and 2022, with over 280,000 plant-based meals consumed in the past year,” says an Emirates spokesperson.

Some airlines are even offering customers the chance to pay for their carbon emissions through a green fare or donations to environment-friendly initiatives. “Like the rest of the industry, it’s going to be a series of incremental approaches building on each other to get to that 2050 timeline. Technology, SAFs, sustainable practices, all of those things layering on each other because there is no magic bullet to this problem,” says Air India’s Wilson.

“If we continue to work closely with manufacturers on engine efficiency, SAF and other such initiatives that’s really the way forward for us,” adds IndiGo’s Elbers. Therefore, like the line from the Pink Floyd song, the little or big steps required in this regard have to be acted upon determinedly. 

@manishpant22, @nidhisingal