British Airways plans to remove 700t of single-use plastics from its flights in 2020 by eliminating a quarter of a billion individual items. The IAG-owned airline had previously announced an initiative to remove 25 million individual items, or 90t, each year. Plastic stirrers have already been replaced with bamboo alternatives. The airline has also swapped plastic packaging for blankets with paper wrapping, reduced plastic packaging on Club World amenity kits, placed headsets inside paper charity envelopes instead of plastic wrapping, sourced water bottles that are 50% made from recycled plastic, and removed in-flight retail plastic bags. It is now looking to replace single-use plastic cutlery, tumblers, cups, toothpicks and butter packaging. The process of sourcing alternatives is "complex", it acknowledges, citing the amount of research that is required to make sure that alternative products are credibly sustainable, offer the same levels of hygiene, and do not weigh more than the items they replace. "We've spent a long time researching how to make sustainable changes without causing environmental impact elsewhere," states BA customer experience manager Kate Tanner. "For instance, we are looking at the amount of water and detergent needed to wash metal cutlery and how often it needs to be replaced versus using plastic or bamboo cutlery." She adds: "We've looked at how we ensure blankets and other items can be kept clean without a plastic covering and the lifespan of all the new items compared to the existing ones. Some potential replacement options may be heavier, which would then have an impact on the weight of the aircraft and therefore on our emissions, so we must ensure we are making the right choices on all replacements." The average flight produces 1.43kg of water per passenger, according to the Airline Catering Association, a large proportion of which is single-use plastic. Efforts to reduce its use on aircraft are hindered by the legal requirement to incinerate any cabin waste that has come into contact with food in order to minimise the chance of transmitting animal-based diseases. A recent report commissioned by IATA found minimal risk that animal-based diseases could be transmitted in this way. The airline association said last year that it was working with the EU and World Organisation for Animal Health to "support a move to a smarter risk-based response" which could allow greater recycling of onboard plastic.

Source: Cirium

South Africa’s government has set aside R16.4 billion ($1.1 billion) over the medium term for South African Airways to repay guaranteed debt and to cover debt-service costs. The national treasury has disclosed the figure in its newly-released 2020 budget review. It states that the government also anticipates that additional funding will be required to cover restructuring costs, following SAA’s placement under business rescue. SAA has incurred net losses of more than R32 billion in the past decade, while those of regional operator SA Express – also under business rescue – have reached R1.2 billion over the same period. The government will need to “assess its appetite” for continued ownership of SA Express, says the review, given its “limited role” in the local aviation market. In an effort to progress towards fiscal sustainability the government has cut the baseline of budget expenditure by R156.1 billion over the next three years – the equivalent of about 1% of GDP per year – compared with 2019 budget projections. Increased support to financially-distressed state-owned companies – including SAA and energy firm Eskom – has increased by R60.1 billion over the medium term, it says, adding to the government’s spending pressures. The government has set aside R16.4 billion for SAA to repay guaranteed debt and interest costs over the next three years. “Costs of this adjustment are still being finalised, and will be financed from existing provisional allocations for state-owned companies,” says the budget review. It points out that the market attaches increased risk to state-owned companies, which are paying “substantially more” to borrow – with the highest cost for guaranteed debt. SAA’s borrowing incurs nearly twice the interest rate of government, the review adds.

Source: Cirium

New routes between mainland China and Europe are at risk as the coronavirus outbreak batters air traffic. Privately owned Juneyao Air has opted to postpone the launch of three new services from Shanghai Pudong to Dublin, Manchester and Reykjavik. These are to be operated as multi-leg, fifth-freedom routes, via Helsinki. "With careful consideration, Juneyao Air has decided to postpone the starting date for [the three] new services until further notice," the carrier says in a statement on its official Facebook page. "This has been a very hard decision for us, as we were excited at the prospect of strengthening the links between Europe and China." Cirium schedules data shows that over the next few months, two other Chinese carriers are planning to launch multi-leg flights that connect lesser-known Chinese cities with major airports in the country and onward European destinations.In March, Beijing Capital Airlines is scheduled to launch Hangzhou-Madrid via Chengdu. China Eastern is meanwhile planning to fly from Pudong to St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport in April and Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport in June, via Xi'an in both cases.

Source: Cirium