According to the latest report from the IBA firm cited by Les Echos, the global average of CO2 emissions per mile and per passenger has fallen by almost 6% since 2018 to reach its record low last month: 141.9 grams, or almost a 6% less than in 2018.
To facilitate comparison with other modes of transport, this means that on a fully loaded aircraft, a passenger today emits an average of 88.7 grams per kilometer travelled, which is equivalent to two people traveling in a powerful German SUV (excluding the electric or hybrid model). ).
More efficient planes and more people on them
The explanation is in one word: modernization. Airlines continued to renew their fleets, despite the crisis, and scrapped the most fuel-efficient planes. They have also invested in the lightest models, equipped with the most efficient engines.
But this drop in average emissions per passenger is also due to the interior layout of its aircraft. In most cases, airlines have redesigned it to carry more passengers. However, it is mathematical, the more people you get on a plane, the more CO2 emissions per passenger are reduced.
French bee, world champion
In this little game, one company stands out: the low-cost, long-distance French bee. According to IBA, it is still today the most efficient in the world in terms of CO2 emissions per passenger, thanks to a fleet made up of only two very recent Airbus A350 models in which it carries more than 400 passengers.
In its longest version (the A350-1000) it can even carry 479 people. With this aircraft, your average emissions per passenger are less than 57 grams per passenger. But there are only two classes (Eco and Premium). And it is obviously this “densification” as we say in the jargon of the airlines that allows it to make a difference with its competitors.
Emirates does it less than Air France
That said, almost 500 passengers traveling on the same plane is not enough to be among the companies that emit the least CO2. Emirates, whose fleet is mostly made up of A380s, for example, shows lower performance than Air France, which parted ways in 2020 with its last Super Jumbo.
With an older design, even Emirates’ newest A380s cannot compete with other latest-generation long-haul aircraft. And even if, one day, Airbus agreed to the Dubai company’s CEO’s request to produce an “green” version of its A380, it would not be able to show the same performance as the French Bee. Because the passengers who travel first in their super jumbo are installed in a “suite” with access to a shower. As for business class, with flat-bed seats, it occupies a large part of the plane.
Reducing aircraft emissions does not mean reducing sector emissions
Are French Bee low-cost planes the panacea? To the extent that they allow you to travel to the other side of the world for a very attractive price, they are an incentive to travel more. However, if the number of passengers carried increases again at the same rate as before the crisis, the modernization of air fleets will not reduce CO2 emissions from air travel.
Source: BFM TV
