By Charlotte Seet
Singapore Airlines Pledging Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050
Joining the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its ongoing commitments to reducing the aviation industry’s carbon emissions, the Singapore Airlines Group – consisting of national carrier Singapore Airlines, budget airline Scoot and Singapore Airlines Cargo – announced on Monday in a press release that it has pledged to achieving net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050.
The pledge comes as numerous other airlines, such as LATAM, VistaJet and Viva Aerobus, commit to cutting emissions in addition to increasing backlash over aviation’s detrimental, and sometimes deemed “unnecessary,” environmental impact.
In the announcement, the group states that it is reinforcing its long-standing strategy of moving towards decarbonization and environmental sustainability across all its operations. The various subsidiaries will use various levers to achieve the pledged goal, including investments in new-generation aircraft such as the fuel-efficient Airbus A350s and Boeing 777-9s.
The Group’s Airbus order book has a list of future orders for Airbus A350-900s and A320neo family aircraft. As for its Boeing order book, there are orders for the latest Boeing 777-9s, the 787 family and the 737-8 MAX. These aircraft are almost 30 percent more fuel-efficient and have reduced carbon emissions as compared to older models of aircraft.
Currently, Singapore Airlines is the world’s largest operator for the Airbus A350s, overtaking Qatar Airways after recent April deliveries brought the fleet total t0o 55 aircraft, featuring all three variants of the aircraft. The aircraft type now marks up almost half of the airline’s registered fleet and represents more than half of the operating fleet as of March 2021.
Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong said that the most effective way for an airline to lower carbon emissions is to operate a…