Heathrow’s ‘Fly Quieter and Greener’ table takes off again
Heathrow airport has ‘refreshed’ and relaunched the league table which ranks airlines on the extent to which they minimise their impact on both people living near the airport and the environment.
The programme was first launched in 2013 and Heathrow was the first airport to release such a league table, marking airlines across seven metrics from noise levels to the number of late flights. The refreshed table has increased the categories on which the airlines are marked to nine, two of which directly address emissions:
NOx emissions/passenger number
For each arrival and departure, the aggregate of certified NOx emissions for all flights of an airline are divided by the aggregate passenger number. In this category, the airlines are ranked 1 to 50.
CAEP standard (engine emissions certification)
Each engine has to be certified against the emissions standards produced and published by the ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection. Heathrow’s system recognises the use of more efficient engine technology by giving better scores to aircraft that are compliant with the more recent and more stringent CAEP standards.
Anther of the categories that airlines are judged on is Airline Engagement, which rewards those airlines who have attended airport meetings or have been in contact with Heathrow to discuss their performance including noise abatement requirements, night flights and future initiatives.
The Fly Quieter and Greener table ranks the largest 50 airlines. GOing as far back as is possible in the table’s archives, the first quarter of 2018 saw SAS rewarded with top sport, with Polish operator LOT, Aer Lingus, Etihad Airways and FlyBe making u the top five.
In the newly launched table, the top five are:
- Scandinavian Airlines System
- KM Malta Airlines
- LOT
- Swiss International Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
The top five ranked airlines – purely in terms of NOx emissions per passenger – are:
- British Airways – short haul
- Deutsche Lufthansa
- Aer Lingus
- British Airways – long haul
- Scandinavian Airlines System
Heathrow’s Chief Communication and Sustainability Officer, Nigel Milton, said: ‘Protecting the benefits of aviation while reducing our negative impacts needs to be a joint effort between airlines and the airport. Working with our airlines, we have already removed the loudest, most polluting aircraft from our runways, but we need to go further. Fly Quieter and Greener will help us continue to track the impact of airport operations, while letting everyone see the results for themselves.’
The League Table can be seen here.
