Emirates

Emirates environmental initiatives seem to be concerned with things around the edges - saving water when washing aircraft, using blankets made out of recycled material in economy and a paper saving ‘think before you print’ campaign at head office.

There is also a lot there that sounds like vague promises and warm words, e.g. ‘naturally we are monitoring the development of biofuel technology with great interest’ and ‘Emirates is supportive of efforts around the world to improve the efficiency of air traffic management.’

Emirates might not immediately be in the firing line as much as other carriers, due to it operating routes where there’s no viable alternative means of transport, and due to much of its customer base being from out

side Western Europe and North America where the bulk of climate change protests have taken place.

However, as we pointed out in our earlier piece about Generation Z, the research currently available shows that younger consumers in developing countries are also becoming more environmentally aware.

Also, Emirates of course flies to European countries, where Governments may soon start applying higher carbon taxes on air travel and / or frequent flier levies.

As a result, our recommendation would be for Emirates (and other airlines in a similar position) to start showing targets and to convert the expressions of intent into something more meaningful and concrete.