The national airline’s CO2 emissions from its international network went from 3.29 million tonnes in 2019 to 817,000 in 2021 and its domestic networks emissions were also down – if less dramatically – from 630,000 to 509,000 tonnes.

Scope 1 and 2 emissions were down by a combined 58% in 2021. It’s a result that had someone predicted it in 2018, they would have been declared barking mad.

Air New Zealand boss Greg Foran says in the report’s introduction that “despite the pandemic grinding our business to a halt, we believe climate change is the biggest crisis facing our airline.”

But from the planet’s point of view the pandemic grinding air travel to a halt is anything but a crisis, it’s a blessing.

 

So how does, Air NZ propose tackling the climate crisis?

It says the four main levers needed to reach net zero by 2050 are:

• The use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
• The operation of zero emissions aircraft
• Continued investment in our modern fleet replacement programme
• Improvements in operational efficiencies
  

It’s hard not to think of the saying “on a wing and a prayer” when reading that list.

The report admits significant innovation will be required to meet the 2050 net zero target.

“Even with the full deployment of available technologies, there is no known technology mix that can enable the aviation industry to reach absolute zero emissions by 2050.”

 

Air New Zealand is actively pursuing those yet to be viable technologies.

In July it signed a MoU with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to determine the feasibility of producing SAF in New Zealand.

And the airline is investigating the future of electric and hydrogen aircraft as an option for shorter domestic and regional flights.  It hopes to have electric aircraft in its fleet by 2030.

 

 

A new sustainability framework is also announced in the report. Its four key focus areas are:

• Caring for New Zealanders
• Genuine climate action
• Driving towards a circular economy
• Sustainable Tourism

 

It's hard to argue with any of that. But by limiting the scope of the report to technological fixes - and failing to even consider - encouraging reductions in total air travel the report is arguably undermining all four of those focus areas.

The report claims, not unreasonably, that air travel is critical to New Zealand’s export and tourism industries.

But it fails to provide any analysis of the overall economic impacts of the massive cuts in air travel resulting from the pandemic.

 

It's one thing to say that the country must continue to be connected to the world through air travel but it doesn't necessarily follow that that there needs to a return to pre-pandemic levels of flying.

"We don’t believe our customers will have to choose between flying with us and doing what's right for the planet,” Foran says in a press release accompanying the report.

And if those hydrogen and electric aircraft become a reality – and there’s a massive increase in the amount of renewable energy available – then that could be true.

But it would be good if there’s was a Plan B in case those prayers don’t become a reality.