British Airways is embarking on a multi-million-pound investment programme to overhaul its ground support equipment at Heathrow Airport, as part of its commitment to reducing emissions both in the air and on the ground. The airline will gradually be replacing its ground vehicles at Heathrow, such as vans and cars, cargo transporters and passenger steps, moving towards hybrid or electric alternatives where available. Already, more than 90% of British Airways’ vehicles and ground equipment at Heathrow are either zero emissions electrical equipment when being used or driven, or are operating on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel.
“At British Airways, we are committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner and our focus isn’t just about reducing emissions in the air, but on the ground too,” said Tom Moran, Director of Heathrow, British Airways. “This major investment into our vehicles at Heathrow is our largest investment in more sustainable airport ground operations to date and is part of our wider environmental objective to minimise emissions from our airside ground operation. We’re proud of the work we are doing in this space and are excited to continue improving the running of our ground operations at Heathrow.”
These improvements form part of British Airways’ £7 billion investment in transformation across many aspects of its business over the next three years. They also build on previous ground improvements made by the airline, including the introduction of electric and hybrid cars for driving airside-based colleagues around the airside roadways, using remote-controlled pushback vehicles for short-haul aircraft and ensuring aircraft plug into electricity at Heathrow when on stand to help power the lights and air conditioning.
“I am incredibly proud of this project, which has been driven by our Heathrow ground operations teams and encapsulates our BA Better World ethos of raising awareness of our strategy to all of our colleagues, and inspiring them to play a part in minimising our environmental impact where possible,” said Carrie Harris, Director of Sustainability, British Airways. “Their energy, enthusiasm and innovative approach in bringing the project to life shows what can be achieved and this investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to making improvements across our business that will benefit both our customers and colleagues.”
