Cathay Pacific is committed to sustainable development and takes its environmental responsibilities seriously, through its business operations and by its support for environmental protection initiatives within the Hong Kong community.
Climate Change is Cathay Pacific’s top environmental priority and challenge. The airline is committed to implementing sustainable solutions such as improved fuel efficiency, modernising its fleet and the use of sustainable biofuels.
Among our efforts to tackle climate change, Cathay Pacific, together with sister airline Cathay Dragon, launched Fly Greener, a voluntary carbon offset scheme, in December 2007. The programme, the first carbon offset scheme offered by an Asian carrier, gives customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint by offsetting the carbon emissions attributable to their journey.
The programme gives customers the option of using cash or frequent flyer miles to pay for their offsets. Fly Greener is an extension of an in-house carbon offset programme associated with staff business travel.
The carbon offsets provide funding for environmental projects that either remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere or prevent emissions being released in the first place. We currently support a number of projects in China, including a small hydro project in rural Southwest China, a wind farm in Changdao, Shandong, and a hydropower station in Lankou, Guangdong. These projects were chosen for added social and environmental benefits such as reducing local air pollution, enhancing the productivity of local farms, and providing power and jobs to local communities.
Waste management efforts
Cathay Pacific continuously examines options that can help to reduce resource use and waste, or make better use of materials derived from more sustainable sources.
The airline has rolled out various electronic initiatives, such as integrating the Mobile Boarding Pass with popular mobile device platforms, introducing the electronic airway bill (e-AWB) on more of its cargo flights from overseas stations, and trialling electronic flight bags in a move towards creating a paperless cockpit.
In addition, the airline has utilised recycled and sustainably sourced materials inflight including food and drinks containers, chopsticks and inflight publications. We also donate items such as surplus food from Cathay Pacific City canteens, First Class sleep suits, computers and laptops to underprivileged communities in Hong Kong or for recycling purposes.