Looking forward, EUROCONTROL’s Head of Sustainability, Marilyn Bastin hopes the post-COVID aviation industry will not match the situation prior to the pandemic. Her comments came at the 16th Aviation Management Conference that took place today.
Bastin said the aviation industry needs to become more efficient and fuel efficiency improvements across the EUROCONTROL network and indeed worldwide are essential. Bastin clarified, however, that change is actually underway, with fuel efficiency across the EUROCONTROL network having improved by 5% brought about by flight planning improvements. The Head of Sustainability said that they had worked to remove approximately 1200 network restrictions surrounding flight planning which resulted in the reduction in fuel inefficiencies.
The COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity, the entire panel at the conference agreed. Bastin in particular wants the crisis to be used as an opportunity to push for further change and called for a collaborative, intra-governmental approach with regards to sustainability. Her takeaway message was that the sector has already improved since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, but additional changes are needed.
Earlier, Tim Geraedts, a Business Development Consultant at NS International, mentioned that emissions from aviation had risen by 32% between 2013 and 2018. Despite technological improvements and notably more efficient aircraft, emissions are rising significantly faster as a result of high demand. Geraedts specified: “Fuel efficiency improvements are 1-2% per year, [the number of] flights are increasing by 6%.”
Geraedts, in a panel discussion with EUROCONTROL’s Marilyn Bastin among others, said that as individuals, we must reduce the amount we fly and travel. He added that the industry must also look at a sort of ‘hybrid’ model including both trains and aircraft, which could work effectively providing that there’s a strong hub-and-spoke model at the centre of the operation to allow for connections. The consultant used KLM’s Amsterdam hub as an example.
“The hub and spoke model is being challenged,” he said. “With the hubs under pressure, it also means a reduction in connectivity.”
