Airlines rated for sustainability

The newly released CAPA/ Envest Airline Sustainability

Benchmarking Report ( TD 09 Dec) provides a much-needed ranking and rating of individual airline sustainability performance.

Based on a “weighted composite of multiple sustainability KPIs”, the world’s 100 largest airlines are compared and contrasted for their carbon-focused environmental performance, with carriers sorted into Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Blue categories.

“At present airlines use a number of different and nontransparent methodologies,” the report notes, adding that “in the new data age airlines will no longer be able to use opaque reporting processes and selective performance statistics and promote messages about sustainability performance”.

Tables in the report include a summary of CO2 emissions per RPK, with the five worst performers being Scoot, China Airlines, EVA Air, Thai Airways and Japan Airlines.

The report noted that this metric was particularly impacted in Asia Pacific, where very low passenger load factors were experienced as a result of restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

At the other end of the spectrum for 2021/22 were Wizz Air, Virgin Atlantic, Vueling, Volaris and Pegasus.

The rankings also take into account use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, performance disclosures and reporting, with eight carriers qualifying for the top Platinum category, nine in Gold, 38 in Silver, 29 in Bronze and 19 rated as Blue.

On the SAF front, it was interesting to note that Qantas, Air NZ and Norwegian Air Shuttle were the only three airlines where customer-purchased offsets exceeded 3% of the airline’s total emissions.

For more information see centreforaviation.com.