Why it’s greener to fly with Cathay Pacific
We take sustainability seriously. We were one of the first to publish an environmental report 25 years ago, first in Asia to launch a carbon offsetting scheme 14 years ago, and first to make an equity investment in a sustainable aviation fuel manufacturer, 7 years ago. But we’re not stopping there.
Over the past two years, we’ve made three bold market-leading pledges, making us greener than ever before.
We have committed to:
Remove 200 million pieces of single-use plastic, by the end of next year (2022).
Use 10% of sustainable aviation fuel as part of our total fuel usage by 2030.
Be carbon net-zero by 2050.
Here's how we're going to do it:
Reduce single-use plastic on-board
Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced; and just 21 percent has been recycled or incinerated. The rest has ended up in landfills and the ocean, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.
We recognise the impact single-use plastic has on our environment; and in 2021, we made the pledge to halve our single-use plastic usage by the end of next year.
While we have removed nearly 200 million individual items thus far - or 43 million pieces in 2019/2020 alone - our sustainability journey in fact began more than 20 years ago in Economy Class, when we began using rotatable plastic cutlery that was washed, sterilised and reused many times.
In First and Business Class, our pillowcases and duvet covers are delivered in reusable bags. And did you know, the cabin carpets on our A350s are made from recycled fishnet, and our Economy Class blankets are made from recycled plastic bottles?
Carbon offsetting with Fly Greener
We were the first Asian airline to launch a carbon offsetting scheme, Fly Greener, 14 years ago. Since then, more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 has been offset.
Your carbon offset contributions directly fund independently reviewed and Gold Standard accredited projects that not only aim to reduce carbon emissions, but also improve the quality of living in developing countries.
Fly Greener contributions have funded a project in India, which distributed biodigesters across the country to replace fuelwood grid electricity and other fossil fuels. These units can be used to produce cooking gas, heat, or even electricity on the larger scale.
Households save on fuel costs, and the villages have cleaner air; and your travel is carbon net-zero.
Visit cathaypacific.com/flygreener to learn more.
Creating a modern fuel-efficient fleet
In recent years, every new aircraft has been designed with at least 25% improvement on fuel efficiency, when compared to a similar model in the previous generation. While today’s aircraft are twice as fuel efficient as they were 50 years ago, fossil fuel remains the only viable source of power for aircraft.
As the first Asian airline to commit to being carbon net-zero by 2050, we have invested heavily in a new fleet. This has helped us achieve a 7.7% improvement by traffic carried in 2020, and more impressively, over 32.5% since 1998.
Since 2016, we have introduced 43 brand new Airbus A350s into our fleet, four all-new A321neos. With yet more A350s joining our fleet, and 21 more Boeing 777-9s on the horizon, our average fleet age is only going to get lower yet.
Investing in sustainable aviation fuel
As the first airline to make an equity investment in Fulcrum Bioenergy – a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) manufacturer in 2016, we are now in a position to commit to using 10% SAF as part of our total fuel consumption.
Fulcrum Bioenergy uses household waste as a feedstock and turn them into SAF. Not only is the resulting transportation fuel low in carbon, the process also helps to divert a large volume of waste from entering landfills, thus reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100 percent on a lifecycle basis.
In 2016, Cathay Pacific’s first Airbus A350-900 performed the world’s longest flight using a blend of SAF at the time, flying from Toulouse to Hong Kong. All of our new aircraft are delivered with a blend of SAF, since 2016, more than 200 tonnes of SAF have been used for delivery flights.
Our Fly Greener programme has offset more than 300,000 tonnes of carbon emissions since 2007.
Last year, we offset nearly 2,000 tonnes of CO2 through our Green Friday Sale alone. That’s 504 trips around the world in just 10 days!
We’re once again doubling the carbon offset for any flight purchased through www.cathaypacific.com between 19 - 29 November 2021.
Offset your carbon emissions
If you’re looking to offset your flights, you can use our online calculator to work out your share of the carbon emissions. This number is calculated by dividing the total fuel used on a journey by the number of passengers. To learn more about our calculation method, visit on our Fly Greener page.
You can also choose to make a one-off contribution, using either cash or your Asia Miles. To do so, simply select ‘Lump sum contribution’ below.
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Contributions can be made via credit card (Hong Kong dollars), e-payment methods or Asia Miles redemption.
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