Environment
GEA and the Environment
The express industry is firmly committed to using the most environmentally friendly modes of transport available in order to meet customer demand for just-in-time next day deliveries while minimizing noise and emission impacts.
- The industry is truly intermodal; using air, road and ferry services.
- Rail services are however not greatly used as point to point speeds are very low for freight trains (15 km/h on average in Europe, for ex.).
- The express industry relies heavily on overnight transportation to use the ‘dead time’.
- Shipments are picked up late in the working day and delivered early the following day.
- Air express services are only used where there are no other transport options available to meet industry’s requirements for such next-day delivery.
- The ability to fly at night is therefore a vital element in the just-in time concept to meet those industry needs.
- Night flight restrictions seriously damage companies’ ability to remain competitive in the modern business environment with clear implications for employment.
- Express operators have effective in-house environmental programmes aimed at continually improving environmental performance across their whole range of activities and have received many national and international environmental performance awards.
- They have made multi billion dollar investments in more modern aircraft and in surface vehicles which use alternative power sources including electricity; hybrid fuels; and natural gas.
- Modern aircraft are 70% more fuel efficient than 40 years ago and 20% better than 10 years ago. In noise terms they are some 50% quieter than 10 years ago, leading to significant reductions in the number of people affected by aircraft noise.
- Surface vehicles using alternative power sources are some 60-70% more fuel efficient than their predecessors.
- Land use planning around airports is key to avoid inappropriate residential building construction in noise sensitive areas.
- It is an important element in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Balanced Approach to aircraft noise to which all ICAO Member States subscribe.
- In many cases it is either ignored or poorly implemented.
- The objective must be to encourage compatible developments (e.g. industrial and commercial uses) to locate around airports while preventing inappropriate ones such as residential properties and schools.
- Improvements in air traffic control management are urgently required to provide more direct routings and minimise holding times in order to further reduce aircraft fuel burn and emissions.
- Climate change is a global issue which requires global rather than fragmented regional or local solutions and the express industry will continue to work towards this goal in international forums.
- The industry strongly supports continued technological research aimed at future noise and emission reduction; and efforts to produce better scientific understanding of the actual environmental effects of aviation emissions.
- Solutions to noise and emission issues must however recognise the potential economic implications for operators and for local, regional and national economies. While economic costs are inevitable, these must be proportionate to the anticipated environmental gains.