Sustainability

At easyJet, we want to lead the de-carbonisation of aviation, and ultimately achieve zero carbon emission flying across Europe. In November 2021, we joined the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign, through which we committed to reaching an interim, science-based carbon emissions intensity improvement target of 35% by 2035, which has been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In the short-term we are focused on being as efficient as we can; flying our aircraft in ways which avoid noise and unnecessary use of fuel; and flying them full of passengers. Airbus NEO aircraft continue to join our fleet. These aircraft are at least 15% more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace and also have a 50% noise reduction. All these measures mean that since 2000, we have already reduced our carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by one-third.

But we believe that aviation also needs to make radical changes and our ultimate ambition is to achieve zero carbon emissions flying. Therefore, we are working with partners across the industry, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, to accelerate the development of zero carbon emission technologies and the required infrastructure.

Together with Rolls-Royce, we are pioneering the development of hydrogen combustion engine technology, capable of powering an easyJet sized aircraft in the future. Hydrogen emits zero carbon emissions and the potential to also significantly reduce non-co2 effects from aviation. And when we speak about “easyJet-size aircraft”, this means we are addressing the narrowbody aircraft segment, which is absolute key to achieving decarbonisation at scale. We are thrilled to announce that our partnership has already achieved a world first – by successfully running a modern aero engine on hydrogen.

We were also the first airline to support Airbus’ ZEROe programme for hybrid-hydrogen aircraft and have signed a letter of intent with Airbus to support the development of carbon removal technology. This technology captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and then securely stores it underground. We’re one of the first airlines across the globe to support this promising nascent technology which is recognised by climate scientists as crucial to achieving net zero targets.

Sustainability is a holistic issue. We have achieved IATA IEnvA Stage 2 accreditation, making us the first low-cost carrier worldwide to have a fully IATA certified Environmental Management System (EMS). Among others, we are also focusing on reducing the amount of plastic on our aircraft – for example, in our FY22 financial year we removed 11.5 million items of single-use plastic, introduced a recycling programme for our dry-stores and made packaging changes which could save two tonnes of plastic waste annually. Since 2022 we have tracked the avoided use of 48 million items of plastic across our inflight service.

We also introduced new crew uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles. Forty-five bottles go into each outfit – with the potential to prevent 2.7 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfill or in oceans over five years.

Further information

All detailed aspects of our sustainability strategy are covered in our latest Annual Report

We also participate in the CDP Climate Change disclosure system. Our latest submission for CDP 2022 is available here.

Supporting information

Intensity Metric assurance statement We use an intensity metric based on the carbon efficiency of our airline. This is expressed as grams of cabon dioxide equivalent (gCO2e) per revenue passenger kilometre (RPK). In financial year 2022, easyJet also measured and disclosed its carbon efficiency figure expressed as (gCO2e) per revenue tonne kilometre (RTK). Our intensity metrics have been verified by a third-party specialist auditor, Verifavia.

The latest assurance statement is available here.

Carbon offsetting

As a short-term, interim solution, in 2019, we became the first major airline worldwide to offset the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all our flights, at no additional cost to our passengers and only supporting projects that are certified by either Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard. With the publication of our net-zero roadmap, which is aligned with the Science-Based Targets initiative’s trajectory for aviation which requires airlines to decarbonise within their own operations, we will transition our investment from out-of-sector carbon offsetting into supporting and facilitating the individual elements of our roadmap to continue to reduce our carbon emissions intensity. Since the launch of our carbon offsetting scheme, we have offset nearly 8.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions (19 Nov 19 – 30 June 22). We will continue to offset on behalf of our customers for flights booked until the end of 2022. From January 2023, we will offer a voluntary offsetting option for our customers.