Air New Zealand releases 2020 sustainability report

Air New Zealand has today released its latest sustainability report, which outlines the airline's progress against its sustainability goals over the past year.
2 November 2020

The report is focused on the most material sustainability opportunities and challenges Air New Zealand is tackling - supporting people and communities, tackling climate change, supporting New Zealand through sustainable tourism, working with our suppliers, and reducing waste and plastic.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says this year's report reinforces the airline's ongoing commitment to sustainability, despite the current challenging operating environment.

"It has certainly been a very challenging year for the aviation sector and for Air New Zealand. We have worked hard to ensure the actions we have taken over past months will enable the airline to emerge competitively and sustainably from the Covid-19 crisis.

"It has been particularly pleasing to see voluntary offsetting rates increase in the past year - through our voluntary carbon offsetting function FlyNeutral, together with our customers we have contributed close to $1.5 million towards permanent native forestry projects across New Zealand and achieved an average uptake rate across all retail storefronts of 7.1 percent which is fantastic when you take into account the drop off in passenger numbers this year. Thank you to all our customers who continue to choose to offset their emissions."

Air New Zealand 2020 sustainability highlights

  • 10,557 tonnes CO-2e saved through carbon reduction programme
  • 35,045 tonnes of cargo carried, including 20,000 tonnes under the International Airfreight Capacity Scheme commenced with the Ministry of Transport in May 2020
  • 1% uptake rate of voluntary carbon offsetting across all activated online sites globally (up from 4.6% in the previous year)
  • 498 threatened species and 42 conservation dogs relocated
  • More than 8,900 blankets donated to a range of charitable organisations
  • More than 770,000 dry goods including muesli, crackers and sauces redistributed to New Zealand food banks
  • 7 tonnes of sealed, unused catering items reinjected onto aircraft instead of going to landfill

The 2020 report is available on Air New Zealand's website.


Ends

Issued by Air New Zealand Communications.

Email: media@airnz.co.nz   │  Twitter: @AirNZMedia

About Star Alliance

The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 19,000 daily flights to more than 1,250 airports in 195 countries. Further connecting flights are offered by Star Alliance Connecting Partner, Juneyao Airlines.

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