Fact Sheet

Cathay Pacific and the Environment

Introduction

As a responsible corporate citizen, Cathay Pacific is committed to promoting environmental protection and limiting the impact the airline’s operations have on the environment. The company’s environmental objectives have been clearly outlined in its sustainable development strategy and full details of its environmental initiatives can be found in the latest Sustainable Development Report at http://www.cathaypacific.com/sdreport.

Cathay Pacific and climate change

Aviation is a small but growing contributor to climate change. Currently, aviation is estimated to contribute approximately 2% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, and this is expected to rise to 3% with growth in demand.

Cathay Pacific’s approach to reducing its carbon footprint is in full support of IATA’s “Four-Pillar Strategy” to reduce carbon emissions by investing in technology, improving operations and infrastructure, and through appropriate economic measures.

1. Investing in technology
   
   • Cathay Pacific is making significant investments to underscore its commitment to modernise its fleet, including more than 90 new aircraft on order for delivery up to the end of the decade. We plan to retire the 21 Boeing 747-400s and 11 Airbus A340-300s in the Cathay Pacific fleet before the end of the decade as new, more efficient aircraft arrive.
   • Advancement in technology has led to ongoing incremental improvements in fuel efficiency. The airline has seen an 8.7% fuel efficiency improvement (in terms of available tonne kilometres) or 23.4% (in terms of revenue tonne kilometers) since 1998.
   • Cathay Pacific is evaluating the use of biofuels as an alternative power source for its aircraft and is a member of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group.
2. Improving operations and infrastructure
   • Cathay Pacific adopts flexible routes between destinations, taking into consideration the wind variability, in order to improve efficiency and save fuel.
   • The airline continues to work with industry partners and regulatory authorities to address air traffic management inefficiencies and, as a consequence, reduce carbon emissions.
   • We implement maintenance-related initiatives such as regular core washing of our engines to achieve best possible efficiency, which results in fuel savings and reduced emissions.
3. Economic instruments
   • Cathay Pacific was the first Asian airline to launch a carbon-offset initiative, named “FLY greener”. It also acknowledges and supports the role of economic instruments such as emissions trading when it is implemented on a global scale with revenues used towards effective carbon-reduction projects.
   1. FLY greener
      • Passengers can pay to offset the carbon-dioxide emissions associated with their travel using cash or Asia Miles. The offsets are used in a diversified portfolio of offset projects in Mainland China.
      • Projects currently being supported include a set of 95 small "run-of-river" hydropower stations in Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces; a group of 23 wind turbines in Shandong; and a "run-of-river" hydropower project in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong.
   2. Emissions trading
      • The airline is working through IATA, Aviation Global Deal, and other industry partnerships to facilitate the following:
        • The important role that carbon trading schemes can play to help secure the required reduction in global carbon emissions at minimum cost.
        • The funding of carbon-emission reduction strategies on the ground from any revenues raised through economic instruments.
        • The leadership by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in establishing a global carbon trading scheme for international aviation.
        • As aviation is a global industry, aviation emissions should continue to be dealt with through ICAO at a global level.

Cathay Pacific’s environmental performance

1. Clean air
   According to the Hong Kong SAR Government’s air emissions inventory, aviation contributes 6% of nitrogen oxides, 3% of carbon monoxide and less than 2% of other air pollutants to local levels of air emissions. Cathay Pacific expects its impacts to decrease in the coming years due to continued fleet modernisation and the retirement of older aircraft. Ongoing efforts include:
   • Participating in the Hong Kong Clean Air Charter Certification Scheme.
   • Developing a formal strategy for vehicle replacement across the Cathay Pacific Group.
   • Seeking new opportunities for collaborating with local business on air quality improvement.
   • Conducting yearly indoor air quality monitoring – with a “Good” rating achieved for 2011.
2. Noise management
   Despite a 75% industry-wide reduction in noise over the past 30 years, Cathay Pacific continues to work on ways to reduce noise in its aircraft. Ongoing noise-reduction efforts include:
   • Communicating with airport authorities to more effectively address noise issues
   • Working with manufacturers and other airline partners on noise-mitigation measures
   • Liaising with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department to reduce the noise impact of aircraft operations in Hong Kong
   • Working with industry groups, including IATA, in the promotion of the “Balanced Approach” to noise management.
   • Taking delivery of new aircraft that are quieter and will operate with a smaller noise footprint than their predecessors.
3. Managing inflight waste
   Recycling and reducing inflight waste is always a challenge for Cathay Pacific in terms of space, time and cost. Despite the constraints, the airline remains fully committed to decreasing its waste and in the last few years has:
   • Conducted a successful trial on the use of biodegradable plastic bags onboard
   • Actively assessed alternatives to plastic packaging for inflight magazines, headphones, food packaging and other related items.
   • Developed protocols to reduce leftover food by a careful process of planning, forecasting, consultation, and surveying passengers and cabin crew to ensure the right types and quantities of food are loaded onboard
   • Introduced lighter-weight food carts and meal trays.
   • Commenced inflight recycling,  collecting plastic cups, plastic bottles, and aluminium cans since 2005.
   • Worked to sort and reuse reading materials from the aircraft that are in good condition
   • Adopted the use of reusable plastic cutlery onboard flights.
4. On the ground
   With the headquarter buildings of Cathay Pacific and sister airline Dragonair located on Lantau Island – a place considered to be of high biodiversity value – the Cathay Pacific Group recognises it has a responsibility to protect the area by reducing its environmental impacts. Initiatives include:
   • Installing recycling bins for paper, cans, plastic bottles, toner cartridges and batteries where they are located at strategic areas in both Cathay Pacific City and Dragonair House
   • A move from paper filing to software solutions, or using paper from responsible sources such as Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper
   • Equipping Cathay City with automatic lighting, air- conditioning control systems and motion sensors in conference rooms that enable savings in power consumption.
   • Investing in energy-saving installations including a heat recovery system at Cathay City.
   • Installing a solar heating system at Dragonair House
   • Investigating the feasibility of hosting the installation of photovoltaic panels at Cathay City
   • Utilising seawater for air-conditioning systems at Cathay Pacific City

January 2012