China Airlines promotes the concept of sustainability and selected yesterday's (13th) CI073 Taipei-Amsterdam as a long-haul demonstration flight. Adding 40% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can reduce 93.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to about 1/4 of the annual carbon adsorption of Daan Forest Park, or reducing the annual carbon emissions of 40 traditional fuel passenger cars. At the same time, it has also fully implemented carbon reduction from in-flight catering, in-flight supplies to passenger experience.
Chen Hanming, general manager of China Airlines, said that SkyTeam will promote the Airline Flight Challenge in 2022. China Airlines has completed a total of 8 demonstration flights, reducing at least 600 metric tons of carbon emissions. This is the fifth time it has participated in the SkyTeam Alliance's "Airline Flight Challenge" and the first time it has challenged long-haul routes. It chose the Netherlands, which has a relatively mature European sustainability initiative, and used yesterday's Amsterdam flight as a flight challenge demonstration flight.
China Airlines Chief Sustainability Officer Zheng Zhiren explained that the demonstration flight from Taipei to Amsterdam refueled 36.3 metric tons of SAF, reducing approximately 93.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to about 1/4 of the annual carbon adsorption capacity of Daan Forest Park, or reducing the annual carbon emissions of 40 traditional fuel passenger cars.
Chen Hanming said that airlines are a fuel-intensive industry. In addition to using sustainable fuel, China Airlines has also started with on-board equipment and services. For example, the weight of on-board meal trays has been reduced by about 30%, which reduces the load on board and improves fuel usage efficiency. It can also reduce the burden of flight attendants during service. At the same time, in-flight menus and wine lists have also switched to soy ink printing to further reduce resource consumption and environmental impact. These are more meaningful than the high-sounding statement of adding 40% SAF.
Chen Defeng, director of China Trust Bank's Payment Finance Division, said that China Trust has sponsored China Airlines' sustainable demonstration flight back to Taiwan from Tokyo and the China Airlines marathon event for the first time in 2024. This year, China Trust will expand cooperation to long-haul routes and increase the SAF ratio from 20% to 40%. China Trust is committed to promoting sustainable finance and supporting the low-carbon transformation of the aviation industry. It hopes to channel sustainable funds into green industries with substantial carbon reduction benefits through cross-industry cooperation.
The price of SAF is about 2.5 to 3 times that of traditional aviation fuel. Will the cost be passed on to passengers in the future? In this regard, Chen Hanming said frankly that due to the recent impact of the war in the Middle East, the price of traditional aviation fuel has also fluctuated significantly, so it is currently difficult to judge the actual cost gap between the two. However, Singapore is a mature market in Asia for promoting sustainability. Singapore Airlines has passed on sustainability costs to passengers. Some peers are "testing the water temperature" first. China Airlines must first achieve its own sustainability goals. When the market and passengers gradually agree, China Airlines will not rule out following up.
