The easyJet electric plane is about to take off

Electric aircraft can be used for flights less than two hours equal to approx 540 kilometers or 20 percent of easyJet's current routes and, in the company's plans, all short-haul flights within the next twenty years. Thus it becomes the first company to actually invest in electric aircraft.

"This agreement represents an important step forward to promote greater awareness in the sector of the opportunities and operational and infrastructural challenges arising from the construction of these aircraft", writes easyJet in a note, "EasyJet and Airbus will study the implications and requirements necessary for the large-scale introduction of the new generation of sustainable aircraft to be used in commercial aviation".

In the last two years the company has supported Wright Electric, the American start-up that has set itself the goal of producing a completely electric plane on behalf of easyJet for use on short-haul flights.

The company also cooperates with Rolls Royce and Safran for the development of new technologies capable of reducing, at the origin, the carbon dioxide emissions produced by air flights.

easyJet introduced this year in its fleet, like other airlines for the rest, the new Airbus A320 Neo, an airplane model that guarantees a saving of 15 percent of fuel and CO2 emissions, in addition to a reduction in noise 50 percent during both take-off and landing.

The company will also evaluate the use of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies and the use of sustainable fuels when they become commercially available and efficient.

Among the actions that the carrier will be able to put in place shortly to help reduce CO2 emissions, there are the introduction of electric taxiing systems, the use of auxiliary power units (Auxiliary Power Unit – APU) and the reduction of emissions deriving from activities that do not strictly concern the flight through, for example, the use of renewable energies.

The company also wants to encourage both governments and industry to share these goals, specifically committing to improvingefficiency of airspace management and ensuring that regulatory regimes support actions aimed at reducing CO2 emissions, encouraging those who are able to make operations more efficient and support innovation, for example through tax incentives.

The new initiatives are added to already active programs, which include the transition to an increasingly modern and efficient fleet; flight plans that reduce thenoise pollution and fuel consumption; commercial policies aimed at maximizing the filling of aircraft (load factor) and therefore reducing the environmental impact of each individual passenger.

Since 2000, easyJet has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions per passenger / kilometer by over a third (33.67%). Some of the measures adopted concern the introduction of ultra-light coatings, seats and trolleys, taxiing procedures with only one engine running and the complete digitization of the cockpit.

As early as 2013, easyJet had publicly set itself the goal of limiting carbon emissions emitted per passenger / kilometer. In 2015 he then made the commitment to reduce them by 10% by 2022, compared to the values ​​recorded in 2016.

In addition to the commitment to its own emissions, easyJet is working to reduce waste on board and limit the use of disposable plastic, throughout the supply chain.

easyJet also announced that it has become the first of the world's leading airlines to fly at zero carbon dioxide impact by offsetting the emissions produced by the combustion of fuel on all its flights and on behalf of all its passengers.