How important is sustainability for Cathay Pacific?

Cathay Pacific commits to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.  Photo Cathay Pacific

Azim Norazmi, Climate Change & SAF Manager, Cathay Pacific tells us how important sustainability is for Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and what steps the carrier has already taken to reach as it reaches for massive reductions on emissions. Azim is a sustainability specialist with more than 9 years of combined working experience within the Aerospace and Aviation industry.

1. How important is sustainability for Cathay Pacific?

As an airline, we take our responsibility to protect the environment and work for sustainable development seriously. We are committed to a carbon-neutral future, and we are ramping up our efforts to fight climate change with strong sustainability practices, which guide our operations, and resourcing. We are also dedicated to serving our communities, both in Hong Kong and across the globe, and protecting the natural habitat from exploitation. 

2. What concrete steps has the company taken?

There are many examples of concrete steps taken by Cathay Pacific. In 2020, we were among the first airlines in Asia to commit to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This has led to further commitments to using 10% SAF by 2030 and achieving a 55% of reduction from our absolute ground emissions from the 2018 baseline, by 2035. This aligns with the aims of the Paris Agreement. It’s a significant step on our sustainable development journey and coalesces our existing efforts in fuel efficiency, SAF, carbon offsetting and emissions reduction around a common goal.

Beyond making commitments, we have also implemented actions within our operations to help us achieve our sustainability goals. By using a digitised inflight manual, we’ve replaced as much as 75kg of paper on each flight, thus decreasing emissions by more than 4,000 tonnes CO2 emissions per year based - emissions equivalent to more than 5,000 flights from Hong Kong to London. In addition, we also continue to reduce SUP in our flight operations. We have pledged to remove 50% of our SUP consumption by the end of 2022 from a 2018 baseline. To date, we have removed about 43 million pieces of SUP items from our annual usage baseline. 

3. How do you see the role of SAF for Cathay Pacific going forward?

The use of SAF is key to decarbonising our operations. Cathay Pacific already has a head start in this space with our investment and offtake agreement with Fulcrum BioEnergy back in 2014. Our new commitment to have SAF comprise 10% of our total fuel consumption by 2030 and our collaborative approach to ramp up development of emerging technologies are clear signals of our determination to achieve our net-zero emissions target and to be a leader in the fight against climate change.

4. Is procuring SAF a challenge in the region? How do you see this evolving?

Procuring SAF continue to pose a major challenge not just to Cathay Pacific, but the entire aviation industry. Market reports indicate that global SAF demand is set to quickly outstrip supply. However, there is also much progress and development taking place, particularly in Asia. APAC countries are stepping up efforts to produce SAF. Cathay Pacific Group will continue to support the scale-up and development of SAF supply chain, especially in Asia while at the same time advocate for more supportive SAF policies to expedite the transition from fossil fuel to SAF.

Photo IATA / Cathay

Azim is a sustainability specialist with more than 9 years of combined working experience within the Aerospace and Aviation industry. Azim previously pioneered sustainability development for AirAsia Group, specializing in the establishment and execution of climate change mitigation strategies for the airline including GHG monitoring, reporting and verification as well as the adoption and implementation of SAF strategy.

Azim has recently joined Cathay Pacific Airways to help the airline meet its 10% SAF target by 2030 and ultimately meet its Net Zero 2050 goal. He was instrumental in the setting up of Cathay Pacific’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme which was launched recently.

Cargo flies greener....

Cathay Pacific is taking the lead in aviation’s sustainability efforts in Asia with the extension of Fly Greener to its air cargo services. Fly Greener is a carbon-offset programme powered by an integrated carbon emissions calculator, as part of the airline’s commitment to tackling climate change by achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Image Cathay

The new carbon emissions calculator works out the carbon emissions of shipments and the cost to offset them in just a couple of simple steps. Customers can then make a contribution to purchase carbon offsets that come from carefully selected carbon-offset projects. All selected projects are certified under the Gold Standard to ensure their carbon reductions are verified, and come with societal and developmental benefits.

The carbon-offset programme follows the launch earlier this year of Cathay Pacific’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme, which brings SAF into Hong Kong International Airport for the first time in history. It provides corporate customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint from business travel and air cargo shipments by contributing to the use of SAF. Cathay Pacific was also among the first carriers in the world to announce a target of 10% SAF in its total fuel use by 2030.