Air New Zealand Aims for Zero-Carbon Plane in Fleet by 2030
September 08 2021 - 6:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Stephen Wright
Air New Zealand should be trialing a zero-carbon aircraft in its
fleet by 2030 and is exploring green hydrogen and electric options,
according to its executive overseeing safety and
sustainability.
The carrier has been in discussions with a couple of aircraft
manufacturers about zero-carbon development, David Morgan told a
Centre for Aviation online conference.
The airline's first use of a zero carbon aircraft could be for
cargo rather than passengers and be a single-engine plane, he said.
A viable 20-30 seat twin-engine plane that doesn't run on jet fuel
is about a decade away.
"We are of the view that we would like to see a zero carbon in
our fleet sooner rather than later," Mr. Morgan said. "I would
actually quite like to see by 2030 an electric aircraft operating,
probably as a pilot, as a trial."
The airline has a fleet of 96 planes in operation and 15
long-haul Boeing 777 planes in storage in the U.S. because of the
pandemic.
As governments ramp up efforts to meet targets for reductions in
carbon emissions, transport industries and aviation in particular
are likely to face increased pressure from regulators and their
customers to decrease reliance on fossil fuels.
Domestic routes would be the initial focus for Air New Zealand's
use of zero-carbon aircraft.
The airline has 51 turbo prop planes that it uses on regional
New Zealand routes and about half of them--Bombardier Q300
planes--have an average age of 14.5 years and will need to be
replaced after 2030. Its ATR turbo props are an average of 4.5
years old.
"The aircraft that will replace them will be aircraft powered by
some alternative power. So that's our expectation," Mr. Morgan
said. "That's the challenge that we've put out to the
industry."
Write to Stephen Wright at stephen.wright@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 08, 2021 18:11 ET (22:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Bombardier (QX) (USOTC:BDRBF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2024 to Dec 2024
Bombardier (QX) (USOTC:BDRBF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2023 to Dec 2024