British
Airways has announced a partnership with energy firm bp to source sustainable aviation
fuels (SAFs) as part of BA Better World, its new sustainability programme.
As
part of the programme, the airline will source SAFs from bp with respect to all its flights
between London, Glasgow and Edinburgh during the UK’s COP26 climate change
summit being held in Glasgow later this year. BA
said the SAF sourced for the COP26 period provides a lifecycle carbon reduction
of up to 80 per cent compared to traditional jet fuel.
BA
has also announced that customers can now purchase SAFs to reduce their
carbon footprint via the not-for-profit organisation Pure Leapfrog. This is in
addition to the existing option for customers to offset their emissions.
The
new programme was launched at an event at Heathrow at which an A320neo in new sustainability livery was unveiled.
At
the event, the airline showcased some of the initiatives it has introduced to
improve sustainability in the air and on the
ground, including switching from diesel to renewably powered electric
pushback vehicles and removing weight from its aircraft by introducing lighter
seats and trollies, inflight magazines and paper flight manuals. It also
outlined its efforts to remove single-use plastic and source more products made
from recycled materials, including its First Class duvet and World Traveller
Plus amenity kits.
The
airline’s parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), announced in April it would invest $400m over the next 20 years into the development of SAF, with
British Airways forming partnerships with a number of technology and fuel
companies to develop SAF plants and purchase the fuel, including Velocys
in the UK and LanzaJet in the US.
British
Airways CEO and chairman Sean Doyle said: “We’re clear that we have a
responsibility to reduce our impact on the planet and have a detailed plan
to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, including investing in more
fuel-efficient aircraft, improving our operational efficiency and
investing in the development of sustainable aviation fuel and zero emissions
aircraft.”
Martin
Thomsen, CEO of bp’s aviation division added: “Our companies have a
long-standing relationship and will continue to work together on sustainable
aviation fuel supply initiatives on an on-going basis.”