The introduction of lightweight transport containers over the next four years will see Lufthansa reducing its CO2 emissions by 6,867 tonnes each year, the airline announced this week.
From this autumn, the container fleet at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo will be partially replaced by new containers made of a light plastic material and up to 15pc lighter than the existing aluminium versions.
Initially, the smaller containers, which are transported on the under-floor deck of passenger and cargo planes, are to be replaced by 2015. A total of 5,000 containers are being replaced.
Lufthansa said this will result in a reduction in kerosene consumption of around 2,180 tonnes per year, cutting its CO2 emissions by 6,867 tonnes.
The airline said that Lufthansa Cargo and logistics management company Jettainer have carried out extensive on-board testing of the new containers, which will be used both for transporting passengers’ luggage and for cargo shipments. The tests found that the new containers need fewer repairs than the conventional aluminium ones and satisfy all the necessary standards.
“Together with Jettainer we are targeting investment in the latest technology and in the Lufthansa group will therefore operate the largest fleet of lightweight containers in the world,” said Karl Ulrich Garnadt, CEO and chairman of Lufthansa Cargo. He said that in order to achieve this, the development of new generations of lightweight containers and the expansion of this technology to other types of containers will be pushed forward.
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com
