Airbus is paving the way for sustainable aerospace

At Airbus, we fully understand that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, which is why we reaffirmed our commitment to the Paris Agreement targets and made clear our ambition to lead the decarbonisation of aviation at COP26.

Airbus’ sustainability commitments are key to confronting this challenge, and will act as a guiding light for all our corporate decision-making. Our aim is to cap CO2 emissions from 2020 onwards and reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

The roadmap to cap and transition to net-zero entails several contributions and a robust strategy. First step is to continue to introduce the latest generation of aircraft into the market. These aircraft significantly improve airline operations through the reduction of fuel burn by 25 percent, and CO2 emissions across the entire Airbus family. Today, the latest generation of in-service aircraft represent only 13 percent of the total worldwide fleet, representing a great opportunity for the industry to replace their older fleet for newer and more efficient aircraft. Critically, steps such as these can be implemented immediately.

For those aircraft that can't be immediately replaced, we offer upgrade services solutions that help reduce our airline customer's environmental footprint. One recent regional example is the DPO (Descent Profile Optimization) software recently selected by LATAM to upgrade their single-aisle fleet. Another way to streamline flight operations is to take advantage of NAVBLUE's diverse portfolio of solutions to support airlines at every stage of their fuel efficiency journey.

Additionally, since 2008, Airbus has actively participated in the certification process for new fuel pathways; performed demonstration flights; acted as an important catalyst for partnerships and engaged policy makers to advocate for the development of a robust Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) industry. We continue to explore different SAF production pathways, including Power to Liquid (PtL), Biomass to Liquid (BtL), etc., with the objective of supporting its scale-up and supply to a large number of airports worldwide. Since 2016 Airbus has been offering delivery flights powered with SAF from its centres in Toulouse, France, Hamburg, Germany and Mobile, Alabama in the US. This option is to be extended very soon to its Chinese facility in Tianjin.

Simultaneously, Airbus has also continued its research on allowing higher blending rates -- from 50 to 100 percent. In April, Airbus performed its first 100 percent SAF capability test flight with one A350 engine -- recently replicating the feat using an A319neo -- all the while operating part of each Beluga flight with SAF. Our aim is to ensure all aircraft are SAF compatible before 2030, and to deliver airplanes with sustainable aviation fuels to customers.

Meanwhile, Airbus continues to develop disruptive technologies, namely by designing a zero-emission aircraft (ZEROe) that is planned to enter into service by the middle of the next decade. The ZEROe aircraft will operate using green hydrogen; for this to become a reality, Airbus is advancing alongside the aviation sector to develop the necessary infrastructure.

Finally, Airbus is constantly looking into ways to offset carbon emissions, since we know that compensations are needed until our new disruptive solutions reach maturity.

In addition to the aforementioned commercial aircraft advancements, decarbonisation efforts are also underway across all Airbus divisions, from further electrification and hybridization at Airbus Helicopters such as the CityAirbus to solar-powered flight at Airbus Defence and Space with the Zephyr.

By continuously working on our climate ambition and action plan, we are reaffirming our commitment to lead the journey to sustainable aerospace. At Airbus we are determined to pave the way for sustainable aerospace.

Arturo Barreira is President of Airbus Latin America and Caribbean. With more than 20 years of global aviation leadership experience, Arturo is responsible for all Airbus’ commercial activities and customer relations in over 40 countries, for the three Airbus divisions, Commercial Aircraft, Defence and Space and Helicopters.