ANA's 'e-flights' complete a month-long programme of in-flight environmental initiatives and promotion
Wed 4 Nov 2009 – All Nippon Airways (ANA) has just completed a month-long series of 42 domestic and international ‘e-flights’ to promote ecological travel on the ground and in the sky as part of a range of environmental initiatives. The eco-trial flights, which first started in 2006, provide in-flight amenities that are more environmentally friendly, as well as informing passengers on how to reduce the impact of carbon emissions on their journeys. A short video on ANA’s various environmental preservation activities is shown both onboard and on the ground.
The initiatives included simple procedures like recycling paper cups and also plastic PET bottles that were used as onboard wine bottles that are 128g lighter than conventional glass bottles. The eco-friendly paper napkins were made from non-wood materials and biomass-based plastic cups were introduced. The biopolymer cups were manufactured by NatureWorks using a process that requires about 60% less non-renewable energy and emits over 90% less CO2 compared to conventional petroleum-based plastics. Chopsticks used by passengers were produced from the recycling of domestic wood from forest thinning projects.
Passengers were provided with samples of eco-packaged cosmetics from Shiseido and a small range of eco-friendly merchandise was sold in the in-flight duty-free service. Videos and the distribution of brochures in-flight provided information on the ‘e-flights’ and the fuel and emissions reductions measures that are being undertaken by ANA.
ANA is the first company in the transport industry to be given the Eco-First Award by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.
