Etihad’s inaugural Airbus A350-1000 has an interesting livery, featuring the number 50 on the rear fuselage, and stripes in the colors of the UAE. On the surface, it’s a livery similar to the one sported by an Emirates A380, celebrating the 50th year of the establishment of the UAE.

But that 50 has multiple meanings for Etihad and the wider aviation industry. It’s an A350, of course. But it’s also a flagship for sustainability, and representative of aviation’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2050. It has earned the aircraft the monicker ‘The Sustainable 50’.

And the airline has been quick to point out that it’s not Etihad’s Sustainable 50, or even the UAE’s sustainable 50. This A350, it says, is everyone’s aircraft, and will be used as a flying testbed to try out various green solutions, from both the big players in the market and newcomers alike.

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Etihad has no affiliation with any Cabin Crew or Flight Attendant Academies, but students from such academies are still welcome to apply. Photo: Etihad Airways

Open to startups and SMEs

Speaking at last night’s celebration in Paris, held at the UAE Embassy, CEO Tony Douglas explained how it would not be just Etihad that was testing out sustainability solutions. He said that the Sustainable 50 would be open to startups, inventors, SMEs, and innovators to road test ideas and products that could pave the way towards a more sustainable future.

Although he was clear that surviving COVID has not been easy, he maintained that these temporary blips are easier to get over than the considerable challenge of making aviation a more sustainable industry. The goal of net-zero by 2050 is not one to be taken lightly. It requires a coordinated effort from airlines, manufacturers, governments, and policymakers alike if there’s any chance of reaching it.

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Photo: Etihad Airways

The A350 will be the sister aircraft to Etihad’s ‘Greenliner.’ This Boeing 787 has been used to test various sustainability emissions, culminating in a special flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, which resulted in a 72% reduction in CO2 emissions than the same flight would have used in 2019. Douglas pointed out that, although this would indicate net-zero by 2050 should be easy, there is a lot more behind that figure of 72% than meets the eye. He said,

“Let me unpack the four big factors that contributed to the 72%. The first one was the equivalent flight in 2019 - our flight was on an A380, a far heavier aircraft with four engines, which sadly consumes an awful lot more fuel per kilometer. The second factor is that we had 38% sustainable aviation fuel onboard. We actually wanted 50%, but it's just not available in the marketplace at the moment, and it's between 3 and 5 times more expensive.

“The third reason was we optimized the route with Eurocontrol and with air traffic control in Abu Dhabi. It took 40 minutes out of the flight time and saved six tonnes of CO2. And the fourth key element is that we used a technology that … looked at barometric pressure or temperature and weather patterns to adjust flight plans to reduce condensation trails.

“Two of these, in particular, are not repeatable on a regular basis. Sustainable aviation fuel is a key to being able to get to the ambition of net-zero, but it simply isn't available. The second thing is the route planning … that will require governments, policy setters, and regulators over a considerable amount of time, no doubt with a huge amount of complexity, to determine if that can be resolved.

“There is no easy way to do this, but the Greenliner is almost a spokesperson for the challenge that we all have … The sustainable 50 will now take that journey to the next level, not just for us as Etihad, but to become something that's a go-to place for the community in general to experiment on how we can continue to get better at getting better. This is going to be the generational challenge for aviation, not just a rocky two or three years like a pandemic.”

What’s going to be tested on the A350?

Etihad is committed to testing various technologies by itself, such as sustainable aviation fuel, onboard the A350. There are a variety of other things waiting in the wings to be tested too, as Executive Director Guest Experience, Brand and Marketing at Etihad, Terry Daley, told Simple Flying onboard the Sustainable 50 yesterday. He said,

“There's a whole host of things you can do, anything from noise footprints through to more effective flight planning. And, likewise, inside the aircraft cabin. We have successfully, on the Dreamliner, trialed a number of products which are sustainable, and ugly. That's a real challenge to make these products sustainable and attractive too, and you’ll see the result of that work coming out later this year.

“We take direct lessons and we're applying them into what we do. Simple things like sustainable aviation fuel. We want to use it, and it's not just that it isn't available at the right price. There's physically no infrastructure to be able to use it. There aren’t two refueling pipes at the airports, so right now, there’s no choice.

“There’s a lot that's got to change in the world before we get there. But we're committed to it. So there are a lot of people talking about sustainability, and I hope that the message is coming through that we're not only talking about it, we're doing our very best to do something about it as well.”

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 Photo: Etihad

Etihad’s Sustainable 50 invites new products and developments onboard as a means of evaluating effectiveness. As such, passengers on this specially liveried A350 might, in the future, notice some significant differences in the products or services they receive. Or they might not, as many of the changes will be unnoticeable to the passengers’ eye. Nevertheless, it’s a step in the right direction for Etihad and the aviation industry at large.