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Angela Ravi/ITP Images.

With so many question marks still raised as to what precise extent the airfreight industry is responsible for carbon emissions, Air Cargo Middle East & India compiles an exclusive report on the latest fuel efficiency practices and their progress in the Middle East.

As the defining voice of the global aviation and airfreight industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has devised a number of strategies and initiatives to combat short and long term carbon emissions produced by the sector.

"I think its important to put the topic of environmental responsibility into perspective. The aviation industry contributes to only 2% of global emissions, but we recognise that this carbon footprint will probably grow as the industry continues to expand, which is a situation unacceptable in the long term," says Paul Steele, director of aviation environment, IATA.

There is already a huge amount of activity going on across the spectrum of the industry, not just with airlines, but with equipment manufacturers, air traffic controllers, ground handling operators and others.

As a result, last September at IATA's general assembly, a four pillar strategy aimed at combating both short and long term industry emissions was set in place.

Each strategy - details of which are outlined at the end of this article - creates a clearer vision for the future of the industry, condensing what is considered a vastly broad subject into just four manageable subject areas.

Specific targets are set in place, namely a short term target of reducing aviation fuel wasted on inefficient infrastructure by 18%.

Perhaps more ambitiously, IATA has set a challenge to the whole aviation sector to build and operate a commercial airliner that produces no net carbon emission within the next 50 years.

Supporting the strategies is a range of initiatives aimed both at the broader aviation industry and the more specific air cargo sector.

"Last year we ran fuel efficiency programmes with a number of airlines in the Middle East and delivered savings of one and a half million tonnes of CO2. Our green teams work with airlines in identifying any inefficiencies within their operations, which includes the cargo side of the operations.

Since the campaign was launched in 2005, 12 airlines in the Middle East have been involved in the scheme, eight of which took part in 2007," identifies Steele.

The Middle East industry has a slight advantage in its quest for optimal efficiency stemming from the fact it has the youngest average fleet in the world, second only to Asia.

There has been a significant improvement in fuel efficiencies in aircrafts over the last few years and therefore the newer the fleet, the less carbon its omits.

There are airlines in the Middle East, which have significant upgrade programmes including prospective future aircraft replacements in the mould of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. These will lead to further improvements in the short to mid terms," Steele says.

IATA, quick to point out that all its strategies are dovetailed within the air cargo sector, also conducts complimentary research and initiatives more acutely focused on the impact of airfreight.

If 2% of the world emissions are from aviation then approximately a third of that is contributed by cargo," says Aleks Popovitch, global head of cargo, IATA.

While cargo is an airport to airport component, we are also doing work where we are looking at the origin of the cargo and trying to work out its overall carbon footprint to delivery at its final destination.

Such research confronts the many complexities and peculiarities of the broader supply chain and thus IATA admits further work is required in attempting to define the overall impact of airfreight. A large variety of studies are currently underway within different parts of the industry.

While the period an aircraft spends in the air allows for a relatively straightforward analysis, the impact of ground handling operations and overall airport operations distorts the picture, each of which is dictated by the peculiarities of a location. Furthermore, the different forms of cargo transported affect measurements.

"We are working with the supply chain sector to discover how much emissions are generated from the kind of freight itself. Generally speaking freight varies from general to heavy duty to specialised, for example perishables and pharmaceuticals.

It is very important for us to be able to measure the full carbon footprint of each from the beginning to the end of its journey," explains Popovitch.

Meanwhile, two IATA projects currently address the fuel issue within the cargo sector headfirst. The much publicised e-freight initiative was a popular topic in the news throughout 2007 as huge strides were taken in introducing paperless cargo throughout the industry.

Paper documents contribute heavily to the overall weight carried on aircraft and the complete removal of such items from the supply chain will undoubtedly enhance overall levels of fuel efficiencies.

Secondly, IATA introduced an industry recommendation nine months ago for the adoption of robust light weight containers. Applicable to cargo and passenger luggage, the containers have reportedly led to significant savings for the carriers that have implemented them.

Another thing we identified was the large degree of wasted containers within the industry, so IATA has also implemented an improved planning tool, which is able to forecast how many containers are needed during operations," says Popovitch.

By adopting more efficient procedures, an airfreight operator reduces both its cost base and its impact on the environment. With a clear incentive now in place combined with a range of short term and long plans and policies to support change, IATA feels the most important years are still ahead.

"I think the next two to three years will be pivotal for the whole industry not just not airfreight. We have already done a huge amount and recognise we should be doing more," summarises Steele. "Jet aviation fuel have risen over 50% in the last three years and everyone needs to keep that fuel cost down, which means be more fuel efficient and ultimately more environmentally friendly.

IATA's four pillar strategy

1. Technology

Technology is an important driver of progress. Accelerated development of alternative fuels and more advanced technology for airframe, engine and air traffic management is absolutely essential. IATA, manufacturers and fuel suppliers are jointly working on an action plan focusing on short, medium and long term measures.

In the short term, the potential exists to realise emissions reduction by identifying and applying product enhancements and modifications for the current fleet.

For the medium term, possibilities must be explored to accelerate fleet renewal and to introduce the latest technologies as early and widely as possible.

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