Reducing Air Travel's Carbon Footprint

The greatest problem facing this generation is now climate change. Everyone in the aviation and aerospace industry, from pilots to regulators to national aviation authorities, has a responsibility to do their bit to reduce carbon emissions efficiently to ensure the future of our world.

Regulatory agencies play a crucial role in making the sector more climate resilient and prepared. The rights of consumers and the protection of the environment and safety are also among their responsibilities.

The noise, heat, ultra-fine particles, and gases released by aircraft combustion engines are the primary environmental impacts caused by aviation. All these factors directly contribute to the degradation of our ecosystem and the acceleration of climate change. According to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emissions from aviation are responsible for 4.9% of the climate change that is caused by humans.

But there are few data or recommendations on what else aviation regulators or National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) may do to contribute to the cause of reducing aviation's carbon footprint. After all, it is the NAA's responsibility to foster a regulatory environment that is conducive to the continued development and improvement of the country's aviation industry, consistent with international standards.

The aviation and aerospace industries, on a global scale, have brought together their most influential actors to collaborate on the development of the future of flight. The FlyZero Project was initiated in the United Kingdom by the Aerospace Technology Institute with support from the government.

This one-of-a-kind research project brings together specialists from all over the UK to investigate the difficulties associated with the design, the manufacturing demands, the operational requirements, and the market possibility for potential conceptions of aircraft with zero carbon emissions. New technologies are being developed by makers of aircraft and engines in an effort to make commercial air travel carbon neutral. And airports are making efforts to achieve sustainable airport design and reduce their environmental impact in a variety of areas, including air quality, noise pollution, garbage creation, wildlife management, and waterways.

The National Aviation Authority can take a more active role in decarbonising civil aviation by focusing on these eight areas:

1. Promote and speed up technological development

2. Push for the improvement of operations

3. Use renewable energy in aircraft fuels

4. Use the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)

5. Promote environmental consciousness

6. Evaluate the limits of capacity

7. Revise existing state action plans

8. Adaptation

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