Etihad goes ‘eco’ with Boeing 787

‘Eco’ is the new thing in the airline industry, especially when European airlines are getting beaten up by the climate emergency movement over the 2% annual contribution to CO2 emissions of the airline industry.

Whether a true commitment or publicity stunt, many airlines are making moves towards being more sustainable, and let’s face it, they have a lot of space to catch up.

A plane called ‘Greenliner’

To that end, Etihad and Boeing announced at the 2019 Dubai International Air Show a partnering to kit out a 787 in a (pretty) green version of Etihad’s livery to test some products operating procedures and other initiatives with the aim of lowering aircraft carbon emissions. The idea is that this aircraft will undertake scheduled services while they do the testing, so they will be using ‘real world’ conditions

This is a pre-announcement – the initiative doesn’t actually start until 2020.

Etihad will also operate a Boeing 787 ‘eco flight’ between Abu Dhabi and Brussels during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2020.

Etihad happens to have the largest fleet of the more fuel-efficient Dreamliners in the Middle East with 30 787-9s and six 787-10s.

2PAXfly Takeout

Being ecologically sensitive is a current trend in aviation. Many airlines including Australia’s Qantas have announced initiatives. This is to be applauded.

In Qantas case its a commitment – in line with the Kyoto agreement as it applies to countries – to cap its net emissions at current levels, and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Would that the Australian government applied strategies to reach a similar goal.

But, let’s face it – this is perfumed by the smell of airlines playing catch-up with the western world’s view of the climate emergency.