Starting in 2020, Austrian Airlines aims to grow in a CO2 neutral manner. Austria’s national carrier committed itself to achieving this goal within the context of the agreement called “CORSIA*”. As of 2021, CO2 emissions generated by international air traffic will be compensated by investments in climate protection projects.
In the year 2018, the Austrian Airlines fleet consisting of 81 aircraft emitted 2.4 million tonnes of CO2. The CO2 emissions of the Austrian Airlines fleet increased by 6.3% from 2017 to 2018. However, emissions per passenger were slightly reduced thanks to technical progress and operational measures.
The Austrian Airlines approach to further reducing CO2
emissions is based on three pillars:
1) The further modernisation of the fleet. The airline began replacing its Dash
turboprop aircraft with A320 jets in 2019. The previous conversion of the fleet
from Fokker to Embraer aircraft resulted in annual savings of close to 10,000
tonnes of fuel and thus 51,000 tonnes of CO2.
2) Efficiency improvements such as the reduction of weight on board or the fuel-efficient movement of aircraft on the ground (through “single engine taxi-in”). The airline sustainably avoids 11,000 tons of CO2 annually by implementing such measures.
3) The compensation of CO2 emissions. The airline has been compensating for all business trips of its employees since the year 2019.
“Passengers can also compensate for the CO2 emissions of their flights”, CCO Andreas Otto remembers, “but unfortunately only less than 1% of all passengers have actually done so up until now.” Nevertheless, EUR 1.5 million has been invested in compensating for 100,000 tonnes of CO2 since 2008, when the collaboration with Climate Austria was launched. In this way projects involving reforestation, small hydropower plants or biomass facilities have been carried out.
Passengers can compensate for their own CO2 emissions directly in the booking process at www.austrian.com or before/after the flight via Climate Austria https://www.climateaustria.at/projekte.html, the partner of Austrian Airlines. Climate Austria is an internationally renowned provider and guarantees the selection of high-quality climate protection projects featuring further positive ecological and socioeconomic side effects in addition to reducing the level of emissions. Passengers can choose to support either domestic or international projects with their compensation payment.
