Qatar Airways’ 7 Sustainability Pillars For a Greener Tomorrow
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, the travel industry has all but come to a screeching halt with airline companies being one of the worse hit. Qatar Airways has used this downtime to evaluate their business and deployed sustainability as a strategy for resilience.
In fulfilling their role as a catalyst for economic and social development, the airline is focusing on a series of measures for a sustainable future:
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Modern, fuel-efficient fleet of aircraft
Qatar Airways’ fleet of 53 Airbus A350 and 37 Boeing 787 helped the airline to develop a sustainable and adapted solution. This allows the airline to continue flying routes to Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions strategically in reducing carbon footprint.
Aircraft fuel & CO2 emission reduction initiatives
The airline’s fuel optimisation program succeeded to optimise flight paths to ensure minimum distance is travelled wherever possible. In addition, reduction of potable water uplift and digitalization of inflight magazine and menu were among the efforts to reduce weight onboard the aircraft.
Voluntary carbon offset programme for passengers
Qatar Airways is a proud member of the IATA carbon offset programme, contributing to the Fatanpur Wind Farm project, which invests in developing India’s renewable energy capacity. Through this venture, passengers have voluntarily offset the carbon emissions associated with their journey, whenever they book with the airline.
Reducing waste and applying the principles of a circular economy across businesses
Quisine on-board dining experience was introduced in 2019 to focus on reducing single-use plastics. The initiatives include removing plastics for wrapping cutlery and replacing plastic spoons with wooden stirrers.
Food waste reduction
Unconsumed whole and safe food items up to 300 kilogrammes are kept for charity. The airline is proactively looking to optimise food that is carried on each aircraft for weight reduction purposes.
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Water conservation and optimisation
Qatar Airways successfully replaced traditional water with recycled wastewater on its aircraft through the General Electric’s (GE) ‘360 Foam Wash’ technology. Indeed, it is also used at the Hamad International Airport as well.
Supporting the wildlife
As an inaugural signatory to the Buckingham Palace Declaration and a member of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, Qatar Airways has a zero tolerance policy towards the illegal transportation of illegal wildlife and their products. In 2020, they launched “WeQare: Rewild the Planet” which transports endangered animals back to their habitat such as rehoming seven rescued lions from the Ukraine to South Africa, all for free.
