Many efforts are being made to reduce the environmental impact of air transport, in particular by improving the environmental performance of aircraft. European aviation research and the air transport industry expect that by 2020 aircraft will be developed with 50 percent lower fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, 80 percent lower nitrogen oxide emissions and half the noise levels compared to aircraft manufactured today.
Compared to aircraft from the 1960s, today's aircraft are 70 percent more fuel-efficient per person-kilometre. The most modern aircraft use about 0.03 litres of fuel per passenger-kilometre.
Rapid advances in alternative fuel for commercial air traffic are also being made. Bioaviation fuel can be made from different renewable materials, such as forest and food waste.
In the Nordic countries, biofuel is made from used cooking oil, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by at least 80 percent compared to the same amount of fossil aviation fuel.
One biofuel with great potential is algae fuel, which yields a relatively large quantity of fuel compared to other plants. Because algae are water plants, they do not compete for farmland and can grow relatively quickly under the right conditions.
In Sweden, by-products from the forestry industry are the material currently of greatest interest. Biofuel can be mixed with today's fossil fuel and will constitute a significant share of this mixture as early as 2020.
You can read more about the air transport industry's international climate work here.
Together with Nordic airlines, airports, government authorities and aircraft manufacturers, Swedavia is pushing for an increased supply of biofuel to the industry. The work is being carried out in part under the framework for the Nordic Initiative for Sustainable Aviation (NISA). Swedavia is also a partner in the economic association the Fly Green Fund, whose aim is to increase demand and access to biofuel in the Nordic countries.
Another factor contributing to lower fuel consumption and emissions is green flights, a three-part concept that consists of green departures, straight flightpaths and green approaches. This is being developed in a partnership between Swedavia, air traffic management (the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration) and the airlines.
Did you know that: The most modern aircraft use about 0.03 litres of fuel per passenger and kilometre.