British Airways unveiled a radical new environmental target of halving net CO2 emissions by 2050. The target means that British Airways will reduce its net carbon output from 16 million tonnes in 2005 to eight million by mid-century. Willie Walsh, the airline’s chief executive, announced the new objective in Hyderabad, to which British Airways has just opened a new route from London Heathrow.
He said: “Halving net CO2 by 2050 is an extremely challenging target. But it is one I am sure we can achieve. We will make progress through investment in cleaner aircraft, use of alternative fuels, more efficient flight routings and the spread of emissions trading from Europe to the whole world.”
“We have taken climate change issues very seriously for a long time. More than a decade ago, we became the first airline to publish fuel efficiency targets – and we have achieved an improvement since then of almost 30%.
“We are the only airline to have experience of emissions trading, and we have helped fund research into lower-carbon aviation fuels. We are currently working closely with Rolls-Royce to develop alternative fuel opportunities.”
