The Top Five Most Progressive & Eco-Friendly Airlines

The airline industry has made a pledge to cut emissions in half by 2050, according to earthtimes.org, to force the development of greener technology. Some airlines have gone even further by pioneering their eco-friendly technologies, techniques, and policies. Here are the five most eco-friendly airlines at the moment:

 

1. EasyJet plans to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2015, though their passenger/flight efficiency made possible by using smaller airports and filling flights all the way allows them to emit 27% less carbon than normal airlines already. Installation of new, more energy efficient engines on all of their Airbus 319’s will cut the mono-nitrogen oxide emissions by 25%.

2. Nature Air, Costa Rica’s national airline, was built on a 100% carbon-neutral aviation program. The airline developed Costa Rica’s only biodiesel fueling station, aiming to be climate-neutral by 2021.

3. Lufthansa began considering the environment as early as the ‘70’s. Installing more than 20,000 lighter seats on aircrafts in 2006 saved 12,000 tons of CO2 in one year alone. Now, the airline plans to use at least 10% bio-fuel for flying and adopt new technologies and rules that will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 25% by 2020.

4. Virgin Airlines began a specific deal with aircraft supplier Boeing to order only eco-friendly aircrafts called Dreamliners, which use 20% less fuel per passenger on board than other similarly sized planes.

5. Continental Airlines is beginning to experiment with bio fuel, and recently replaced a large chunk of their fleet with more energy-efficient planes. Installing winglets on all Boeing 737 and 757’s reduced emissions by 5%, gave Continental a jump start.  

 

Book your flight accordingly!

 

For more eco-travel news, visit RTM's Earth Tones page.

 

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