Air Seychelles commits to reducing carbon footprint

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has announced that the airline is moving forward with its corporate social responsibility programme to reduce carbon emissions, reinforcing its commitment towards sustainability.
Time Aerospace thumbnail


 
Above: Air Seychelles A320neo 'Veuve'.
Courtesy Air Seychelles


In addition to investing in a series of electric equipment to reduce fuel dependency in its ground operations, the arrival of the new Airbus A320neo aircraft at the start of August, has also played a significant role in the environmental initiatives of the airline.

Having completed 111 flights during its first month of operation across the airline’s network between 6th August and 6th September 2019, the new engine option aircraft has on average generated 20% fuel savings per flight.

The improvement in fuel consumption influenced by the lightweight composite structure of the aircraft has also been enabled by the large fuel-saving wingtip known as sharklets.

Powered by the new generation LEAP-1A engine from CFM International, the Airbus A320neo produces approximately 50 percent reduced noise footprint and nitrogen oxides (N0x) compared to the fleet of Airbus A320ceo (current engine option) aircraft. The maximum noise produced by the new aircraft is similar to that of a heavy truck loader passing at a distance of five meters in the city traffic.

Remco Althuis, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles said: “The aviation industry worldwide is under considerable pressure over the issue of carbon emissions and its impact on climate change. As fuel and emissions are two key factors that impacts the global environment, at Air Seychelles we remain committed to contributing towards the sustainable development, by conducting business in an economically and responsible manner.

"To ensure that the airline develops sustainably, we will continue to explore ways to implement ecological measures across the business, to improve and safeguard the environment where the airline operates.”



Above: As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce carbon emission in the atmosphere and support the national drive to protect the Seychelles environment, Air Seychelles has significantly invested in electric baggage tractors and hand tugs to reduce fuel dependency, recently acquiring new equipment to support the growth of the ground handling and cargo business. It consists of a main deck loader, forklift stacker and cargo 20ft palettes, towable narrow body aircraft passenger stairs, universal wide body aircraft tow bar and aircraft water services truck, plus additional vans to be used by the technical operations, cargo (e.g. FedEx team).
Courtesy Air Seychelles

Manager Ground Support Equipment (GSE), Jeven Zelia who oversees the facilitation and maintenance of all equipment used airside said: “Over the last eight months, Air Seychelles has invested nearly one million dollars in the acquisition of new equipment to increase the capabilities of the ground handling and cargo operations.

"Having the right tools and equipment in place, will help Air Seychelles as a ground handler to push its customer value proposition forward and remain compliant towards the service level agreements maintained with customer airlines operating at the Seychelles International Airport by delivering the ‘Service as Promised’.

"I am also proud of the considerable investment made in the purchase of renewable energy equipment to minimize operational costs and carbon emission footprint, as throughout our daily duties we also need to be conscious of the ecosystem we operate in.”

Air Seychelles currently provides ground handling and cargo service to 12 customer airlines operating at the Seychelles International Airport. The airline also offers the same service to charter operators on the island.