How Air France-KLM is making aviation more environmentally sustainable

Its use of sustainable fuel has reduced the CO2 emissions from each flight by up to 85%.

The aviation industry accounts for 2 to 3 percent of the man-made CO2 emissions in the world. Due to growing population, trade and wealth, this percentage may increase in the future. According to a study by the International Council on Clean Transportation, global carbon dioxide emitted by airlines increased by 32% from 2013 to 2018.

The Air France-KLM Group has secured a top-3 position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the last 15 years. To further step up efforts in sustainability, KLM has taken measures in the renewal of their fleet, development of its own carbon-offsetting scheme and more recently expressed its commitment to the development of the first sustainable aviation fuel plant and an innovative flight concept called the Flying-V. In 2018, all these measures resulted in a relative reduction of 17% in CO2-emissions per passenger compared to 2011.

SBR speaks with Nicolas Ricard, Country Manager Singapore & Vietnam at Air France-KLM, to learn more about sustainability challenges in the aviation industry and what Air France-KLM is doing to step up sustainability efforts.

What is Air France-KLM doing to be environmentally sustainable?

Air France-KLM is one of the frontrunners of the DJSI’s Europe and World Index, and this year has ranked top for the 15th consecutive year.

The Air France KLM group has always been taking many steps in the area of sustainability, and we are now stepping up the speed of the progress towards creating a sustainable aviation sector. We’d like to inspire others to come together and join forces.

Air France recently accelerated its commitment and has set new objectives as part of its Horizon 2030 plan. Some of the commitments outlined in the plan include reduceing CO2 emissions by 50% per passenger/km by 2030 (compared to 2005) and the intension to have carbon neutral ground operations, reducing non-recycled waste by 50% by 2030 (compared to 2011).

KLM launched its ‘Fly Responsibly’ initiative in June, 2019, making a commitment to take a leading role in creating a more sustainable future for aviation, to make the world aware of the shared responsibility, share knowledge and work together for a more sustainable tomorrow. The aviation industry needs to come together and similar to what we have done to make safety a priority we now need to come together to make sustainability a priority.

One of Air France-KLM’s goals is to reduce CO2 from 2020-2030 through the CO2ZERO movement. How is the company involving its passengers in this directive?

Through the CO2ZERO compensation programme, passengers can reduce the emissions of their flight. Air France has for example as of 1 January 2020 decided to offset 100% of CO2 emissions on all of its domestic flights and is one of the first airlines to do this. This represents on average over 450 flights per day and involves an estimated 57,000 customers.

Passengers can get involved by making conscious choices and on KLM’s ‘Fly Responsibly’ website they can find information and tips on how to contribute and travel more sustainably. For example packing lighter, offset through the CO2ZERO programme and consider taking another mode of transport for short distance travel.

Apart from CO2ZERO, how else is Air France-KLM incorporating sustainability into the overall travelling experience?

The list is long! Air France KLM reduce CO2 emissions by investing in fuel-efficient aircrafts, making better use of air space, optimising flight operations (by saving weight on board), using sustainable fuel and offsetting emissions (CO2ZERO).

We also have selective waste sorting on board flights so waste can be recycled. Air France is eliminating the use of single-use plastic items (Cups, cutlery, stirrers) on board which saves 1,300 tonnes of plastic per year.

Currently, the most impactful change on behalf of the environment is using sustainable fuel, which reduces the CO2 emissions from each flight by up to 85%. In 2009, KLM started with the development of sustainable fuel and had the first commercial flight in 2011. As the production of sustainable fuel is still far below what is needed KLM together with SkyNRG will be building the first sustainable fuel plant in the Netherlands. KLM has committed itself for a 10 year period to the development and purchase of 75,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel a year. KLM is the first airline in the world to invest in sustainable aviation fuel on this scale.

We partner with many different companies to stimulate the availability of sustainable aviation fuel on a larger scale and to help make it more competitive. Those companies partner KLM in a Corporate BioFuel Programme and they pay a fee that covers the difference in costs between kerosene and sustainable fuel. Some of our current partners are ABN AMRO, Accenture, Arcadis, TU Delft, Schiphol Group and SHV Energy.

The initial investment for companies to embark on sustainability efforts are usually hefty. Why did Air France-KLM decide on a long-term commitment on sustainability?

Air travel brings people together and promotes openness to the world, but we only have one planet so making the world aware of our shared responsibility is key.

KLM opened its KLM’s environmental Centre in 1990 so sustainability is been something we have been doing for a long time. The difference now is that we are stepping it up and are taking a lead in joining forces for a more sustainable aviation.

How has being sustainable driven the business strategy?

The care for our surroundings – nature, environment and climate – it is a reality now more than ever. We only have one planet and when it comes to the future of sustainable aviation, we owe it to the next generations, together with partners, to find solutions. So we are committed to setting the standard for the aviation of tomorrow.

We integrate sustainability into our business strategy and share our knowledge and experience with other airlines. We are also sharing our CO2ZERO service, which is therefore free of charge so that all airlines can offer it to their passengers.

Does sustainability rank high on the list of factors when travellers choose an airline? What are today’s travellers looking for in an airline?

In the future, travel will be different, from booking with the aid of voice technology and sustainable alternatives such as rail services, to facial recognition technology at security.

Today, travellers are taking sustainably into account when they travel, it is important to them when they book a ticket. The key in this is that travel operators should work together whenever possible to offer rail tickets for shorter distances as an alternative to flying.

What is Air France-KLM’s future plans and initiatives to make travelling more sustainable? What can we expect in 2020?

More and more passengers are compensating for their share of carbon emissions. A survey* commissioned by KLM revealed that almost 40% of travellers plan to compensate for CO2 emissions in 2020. KLM will be introducing a new quick mobile payment system in 2020 to make it easier and quicker to compensate.