BA’s fuel efficiency drive saves over £20m

In its bid to reduce emissions and cut fuel bills, United Kingdom mega carrier, British Airways (BA), has introduced a fuel efficiency drive that will in turn help the environment.

The airline, which opened an online suggestion box, got over 200 ideas submitted by pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground staff as to how the airline could make further progress.

Some of the more unusual suggestions include replacing glass with plastic wine bottles, reducing the amount of water carried in aircraft water tanks, and perhaps most unusually, the de-scaling of toilet pipes on the Boeing 747 and 777 fleets.

Not only did this save some £600,000 as a result of reduced weight, it also improved the performance of the toilets. The airline has also employed more conventional methods such as reducing the use of auxiliary power units, single engine taxiing and performance improvement packages on more than 40 Boeing 777 aircraft.

In total, the savings were worth over £20 million. Jonathan Counsell, head of environment at British Airways, said, “This really has been a team effort. It goes to show that small changes here and there can add up to significant savings.

Not only does this help us to reduce our environmental impact, it also saves us money.” British Airways is already working on more projects to save fuel in 2012, including the use of new, lightweight catering trolleys, headsets and cargo containers.

The airline has also extended a trial of tripleO, a special paint coating that improves aerodynamics and leads to greater fuel efficiency. A Boeing 777 is to be coated, following a successful trial of a smaller Airbus A318. British Airways said it was committed to reducing net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.