I have had a few questions recently from people wondering about recycling waste from food services on board flights. I know a huge number of airlines have very active on board recycling programmes, I know lots of airports worldwide have in-terminal programmes (some very innovative, as demonstrated by the Seattle Tacoma Airport video below), but [...]

As we head towards the weekend, I have seen a couple of video clips that might be of interest. First, Ayesha Durgahee from CNN reports on ways some airlines are reducing their carbon emissions. And my old colleagues at Auckland Airport in New Zealand have produced this video overview of their sustainability programme. Next week, [...]

Air New Zealand’s recent order of A320 aircraft to replace its domestic jet fleet is going to come with a little something extra – sharklets! These are an extension to the current Airbus A320 wingtips that will increase efficiency and reduce fuel use by a whopping 3.5% (or around 700 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft, [...]

  ATW’s Eco-Aviation Today reports that Air New Zealand has made even greater fuel (and therefore emissions) savings than anticipated on its 767 aircraft that have been fitted with new winglets (famously called "sexy" additions to the aircraft). These upturned extensions to the wing increase aerodynamics and therefore increase fuel efficiency. As Captain Dave Morgan, [...]

Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe made a few pointed comments at the Greener Skies lunch. The video is in three parts and a text copy of his speech is available here:

We spoke to Rob a few minutes before his lunch address (which we will be uploading shortly). He filled us in on the biofuels trial Air New Zealand undertook, the technology and retrofits they are using to reduce emissions.

I am in Hong Kong, where leaders from the Asia-Pacific airline industry are meeting for Greener Skies 2009, a conference where we will discuss the recent industry announcement about reaching carbon neutral growth from 2020 and begin to chart a way forward for implementing this ambitious goal. Among the people gathered here are: Tony Tyler, [...]

News from the Eco-Aviation conference currently underway in Washington, DC. Air New Zealand’s Captain Dave Morgan has revealed some results from analysis of the biofuel test flight conducted by the airline earlier this year. Not only did the 50/50 blend of jatropha biofuel and normal jet fuel reduce carbon dioxide emissions (potentially by 4.5 tonnes [...]

The Air New Zealand biofuel test flight went very well, by all accounts. The Jatropha-derived fuel performed as well as the normal Jet-A1 fuel in the other three engines of the Boeing 747-400. There will now be some further on-the-ground tests to be completed in Auckland before the second-generation biofuel is taken for even more [...]

Well, the biofuel test flight is now underway in Auckland. We have issued a statement about the flight, putting it into the broader context of the efforts of the aviation industry at a global level. The flight will last for another couple of hours and then there will be video and images available, with comments [...]