23 October 2024

Heathrow's ranking of the most sustainable airlines

This quarter, the top five best-performing airlines at London's main airport are: SAS, KM Malta Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Swiss and Austrian Airlines

Heathrow is relaunching its quarterly 'Fly Quieter and Greener' ranking, which transparently assesses the environmental performance of airlines operating at the airport. This tool, first introduced in 2013, is designed to monitor and incentivize airlines to reduce emissions and noise, thus helping to minimize the environmental impact of airport operations on the surrounding area.

The ranking includes the 50 largest airlines that use Heathrow Airport, with quarterly updates that take into account parameters such as aircraft noise, punctuality of flight operations, especially after 11:30 pm, and the ability of companies to adopt innovative technologies and practices to reduce noise impact.

The five airlines that stood out for the best performance in the current quarter are: SAS, KM Malta Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines. This type of classification not only makes the data public, but encourages airlines to constantly improve their performance, in a joint effort with the airport to reduce noise and air pollution.

Nigel Milton, Heathrow's Chief Communication and Sustainability Officer, stressed the importance of close collaboration between the airport and airlines to reconcile the benefits of aviation with the need to mitigate negative impacts on the environment. Thanks to these initiatives, Heathrow has already eliminated some of the noisiest and least emissions-efficient aircraft from its runways.

The progress is evident: from 2006 to 2023, theday, evening and night acoustic output of London Heathrow Airport (Lden 55 dB) decreased by 41%, while the night noise between 23:30 and 6:00 (Leq, 6.5h 48 dB) decreased by 58%. The airport's noise action plan includes further measures to maintain this trend, promoting the use of quieter aircraft and the adoption of operating procedures that are more respectful of the local context.

Heathrow

Heathrow is the UK's international gateway, Europe's largest airport and the world's most connected megahub , connecting London to over 200 destinations in more than 80 countries. The airport welcomes over 200,000 passengers on around 1,300 flights each day and serves as a British hub for trade, tourism and investment. Around 75,000 people work at Heathrow, with the airport directly employing around 10% of them, with the rest working for Team Heathrow partners, including airlines, ground handling operators and retailers.

Edited by the Editorial Board, Avion Tourism Magazine

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