THE RISE OF SUSTAINABLE CABIN

In October 2022, APEX (the Airline Passenger Experience Association) announced that in 2023 it would be launching a ‘green rating’ for airline suppliers to cover everything from passenger blankets to catering supplies. By 2028, the APEX green rating programme will be in its sixth year and will have become an established leader in guiding airlines to actively choose suppliers who demonstrate sustainability.

Even though in-flight sustainability is a small part of the aviation sustainability puzzle, it is an increasingly important one from the passenger experience point of view because it is what the passenger sees and experiences. If a flight is powered by SAF, the experience is the same as if

Source: Red Sea Farms it’s powered by fossil fuels; however, if recycled or non-plastic products are used on board, the passenger notices.

Locally grown produce from the airline’s home country using food grown by high environmental standards will also be more common in airline meals. Examples are food from Emirates’ Vertical Farms in Dubai and SAUDIA’s in-flight menus using food grown by Red Sea Farms, which enables commercial farming using lower energy and zero freshwater sustainable climate control.

In 2028, passengers could also find their amenity kits being made out of material that is already being used on an experimental basis, such as ‘banana-tex’ –textile fabrics made from banana plants.

Source: Banatex

Listen to more insights on our podcast

Within this report we’ve been talking about a number of sustainable aviation milestones that we can expect to see between now and 2028.

Many of the mentioned innovators in this report have been featured in the Sustainability in the Air podcast, the world’s first podcast dedicated to sustainable aviation. It is hosted by Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying, bestselling author of SOAR, worked with over 100+ airlines and airports since 2008 on building brand trust.

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Listen and subscribe to the podcast here: green.simpliflying.com/podcast

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Over the past fifteen years, SimpliFlying has worked with over 100 airlines and airports worldwide to build trust in travel.

We now focus on helping the industry navigate the biggest challenge it has faced so far – the need to decarbonise and reach net zero by 2050.

Here are just some of the ways we can help you in this journey: