Our pathway to net zero

In 2022, we launched our net zero roadmap – our ambition to reach net zero by 2050.

In advance of that, we also committed to reaching an interim, carbon emissions intensity improvement target of 35% by 2035 versus our 2019 baseline – an ambition which has been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Our roadmap shows how we plan to achieve both.

While our net zero ambition depends on multiple technological and regulatory advances, we are actively involved in many projects to ensure these areas develop at pace. Our net zero roadmap comprises a number of different components across three critical areas:

Reduce:

• Fleet renewal: we are introducing more modern NEO aircraft, which are at least 13% more fuel efficient and up to 50% quieter versus the older aircraft they replace.
• Operational efficiencies: we are using techniques such as engine washing and single engine taxiing, and rolling out state-of-the-art technology such as Descent Profile Optimisation (DPO) software to make our operations more carbon efficient.
• Airspace modernisation: as well as campaigning for airspace reform, we are using modern technologies like IRIS – a Satellite Communications system for Air Traffic Management – to fly more efficiently.

Replace:

• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): we will increasingly use SAF over the next few decades in accordance with various mandated requirements across the UK and EU. While it will still contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, SAF is made from non-petroleum feedstocks and produces considerably lower carbon lifecycle emissions than conventional jet fuel as a result. 
• Aircraft and airport technology: We are working hard to accelerate the development of future aircraft technology. For example, we have invested multi-millions of pounds into a research and development partnership with Rolls-Royce, which is helping develop future hydrogen-powered engine technology. We have also conducted trials on the ground to test the feasibility of using hydrogen within an airport environment such as our Project Acorn trial – the first hydrogen refuelling trial ever to take place at a major UK airport which is helping pave the way for the first industry regulation on hydrogen’s use at an airport.

Remove:

• Direct Air Carbon Capture & Storage (DACCS): We became the first airline in 2023 to sign up to Airbus’s carbon removal initiative with 1PointFive, which will play an important role in addressing our residual emissions in the future, complementing other components of our strategy to help us achieve our ambition to reach net zero.

Pioneering future travel

Ultimately, we believe that aviation needs to make radical changes and our ambition is to achieve zero carbon emission flying. Therefore, we are working with partners across the industry, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, to accelerate the development of zero carbon emission technologies such as hydrogen. 

Together with Rolls-Royce, we are pioneering the development of hydrogen combustion engine technology, capable of also powering an easyJet-sized aircraft in the future. Hydrogen’s use within aviation is in its infancy so there is more for us to learn about its use in aviation but it provides a potentially exciting alternative as would produce zero carbon emissions if produced from renewable energy sources. It also offers the potential to reduce non-CO2 effects from aviation, although more research is needed to understand these effects.

Our partnership has already achieved a world first by successfully running a modern aero engine on hydrogen and subsequent tests continue to show hydrogen’s potential as a fuel of the future for short-haul aviation.

Reducing our impact today for a better tomorrow

We recognise that sustainability is a holistic issue, and it goes beyond the reduction of carbon emissions. That’s why we are also focusing on other areas of environmental protection beyond our net zero roadmap.

We continue to reduce the amount of plastic onboard our aircraft. For example, at the start of 2024, we rolled out a new initiative that will see all our 14,000 crew switch from disposable cups and cutlery to reusable alternatives for their in-flight meals. This will help us reduce 10 million single use items and is just the latest example of how we’re working hard every day to reduce waste across our operations.

We are constantly looking at ways to reduce the weight of our aircraft to make them more fuel efficient. For example, we have started to replace weighty Paper Technical and Cabin Logs previously used by cabin crew, engineers, ground crew and flight crew with the new e-techlog system. Once fully rolled out at the end of 2025, this will save more than 300,000 sheets of paper from being printed and stored every year.

We also recently announced becoming the first airline in the world to trial a new state-of-the-art lower-weight paint, which is being gradually rolled out to our fleet and expected to reduce 4,095 tonnes of carbon emissions once this is completed by 2029.

We are also working tirelessly to make our operations more fuel efficient and quieter. Our recent fleet-wide roll-out of Descent Profile Optimisation (DPO) helps us to minimise fuel burn and emissions during descent to a destination airport. Our investment and roll out of this technology in FY2023 is helping us reduce CO2 emissions by 600 tonnes per year. Our complementary use of Continuous Descent Arrival (CDA) technology is also helping us reduce fuel use as well as helping reduce noise impact on the ground.

Thanks to achieving IATA IEnvA Stage 2 accreditation, we were the first low cost carrier worldwide to have a fully IATA IEnvA certified Environmental Management System (EMS).

For more information on the measures we are taking to address our carbon emissions and our wider environmental impact please view the sustainability chapter of our annual report.