Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has been named Environmental Airline of the Year 2023 for the second year running in the prestigious Airline Ratings Awards.
The award, which acknowledge the best of the aviation industry by ranking airlines on their innovation, route networks, and safety scores against strict assessment criteria, recognised Etihad for its commitment to sustainable aviation through innovation and collaboration, along with its dedication to driving change and results in Abu Dhabi.
As well as being crowned Environmental Airline of the Year, Etihad took third in Airline Ratings’ Top 20 Airlines award, which critiques airlines on comfort, innovation, value, and safety across Economy, Business, and First Class.
We take great pride in reducing our CO2 RTK by 26 percent. This achievement is a testament to the dedication and efforts of our team to drive our sustainability agenda, and we thank them for their contributions. I am also very proud of our overall achievements, which go beyond delivering direct CO2 reductions but explore innovative solutions to the broader challenges facing aviation sustainability, as you can see in our annual report.
Mr. Antonoaldo Neves, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, shared.
Mr. Geoffrey Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, AirlineRatings.com, commented that “Etihad Airways has demonstrated its leadership in the push for sustainable flight with its Greenliner Boeing 787 programme and last year with its Sustainability50, A350 aircraft. The airline’s Sustainability Report 2021-2022 demonstrates the potential advancements to be made in sustainable aviation by a wide range of initiatives.”
Etihad’s sustainability strategy is focused on achieving emissions reductions through in-sector measures, aligning with industry roadmaps and frameworks, collaborating with UAE industrial ecosystems, and remaining transparent and proactive regarding sustainability issues within the aviation industry.
In a recent sustainability report, Etihad announced it had achieved a 26 percent reduction in CO2 emissions per revenue tonne kilometre (RTK). This achievement is underpinned by Etihad’s flagship sustainability initiatives, including the Greenliner programme, which uses the airline’s fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners as flying test beds, as well as the Sustainable50 A350-1000.