French carrier, AirFrance, on Tuesday, said it had adopted a new process for cleaning the exterior of its fleet in its efforts to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment.
The airline said the new process, which involved dividing by 100 the amount of water for the cleaning, was initially developed for medium-haul aircraft.
According to the carrier, the new process is now being used for long-haul aircraft at the company’s maintenance sites.
Introduced in partnership with UUDS, a French company specialising in services to airlines, the system called Ecoshine enables AirFrance to save more than eight million litres of water and over 57 metric tons of CO2 per year, according to the statement.
The statement said, “The technique for applying the product with wipes requires a small amount of water compared with traditional cleaning and reduces water consumption used for the external cleaning of aircraft by 100. For example, the polishing of a Boeing 777, which required 10,000 litres of water before, now requires 100 litres. This divides aircraft cleaning time by three.”
It added, “The product used is over 96 per cent biodegradable, non-toxic, non flammable and allows staff to work without individual protective equipment. It complies with all European environmental directives.”
Explaining the numerous advantages of the new process, AirFrance said the frequent exterior cleaning and polishing of the aircraft provides optimal air penetration, thus reducing fuel emissions, and consequently CO2 emissions.
According to the airline, the process also significantly reduces the need for treating waste water.
“The impact of ground water savings has led Aéroports de Paris to validate the use of this product on the ramp and in areas in contact with the terminal, thus limiting the need to tow aircraft to washing stations.”
The statement quoted the Vice-President, Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr. Pierre Caussade, as saying, “Air France is taking concrete actions to reduce its environmental impact in all areas of its activity. This new method for cleaning the exterior of aircraft fits perfectly into the Company’s proactive environmental policy.”
AirFrance said in October 2011 that it organised the most CO2 efficient flight by linking Paris to Toulouse with 50 per cent biofuel, using more fuel efficient flight procedures and reducing the onboard mass.
It said 75 per cent of passengers took part in the recycling of newspapers offered at boarding, significantly increasing the recycling rate. 80 per cent of articles used during in-flight service are recycled.
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