EasyJet has announced plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 35% by the end of its 2035 fiscal year.
It comes after the budget carrier joined the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign in November last year and committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since 2000, easyJet has reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by one-third.
The 2035 target aligns with the Science-Based Targets (SBT) sectoral decarbonisation pathway and has been submitted to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation.
The SBTi is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which guides companies on their decarbonisation journeys, in line with the Paris Agreement.
SBTi requires airlines to decarbonise within their own operation, thus not using out-of-sector carbon offsetting or other market-based mechanisms such as the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The airline plans to achieve this ambitious target through a combination of fleet renewal, operational improvements and efficiencies, airspace modernisation and the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
All new aircraft deliveries between fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2028 will be Airbus Neo aircraft, which are at least 15% more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace and provide a 50% noise reduction.
The airline will also continue to adjust standard operating procedures, which helps to reduce fuel usage and therefore carbon emissions, such as single-engine taxiing on arrival and departure.
Meanwhile, easyJet is working with stakeholders and public authorities in order to make progress on the modernisation of airspace, including projects such as the Single European Sky.
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said decarbonising aviation is the "challenge of a generation, but we know it can and must be done".
"We have now embarked on our journey to net zero and while there will be challenges along the way, I’m really excited about what lies ahead," he added. "It is on us to protect the benefits of aviation for generations to come, while at the same time ensure we do all possible to protect our planet for them."
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