How aviation can become more sustainable

At the airport

From 2035, the operation of the airport should no longer leave any CO2 in the atmosphere. "Net zero" means that all emissions that the airport can influence itself must be reduced by at least 90 percent. The remaining maximum of ten percent should then be actively and permanently removed from the atmosphere with suitable projects.

How the airport wants to achieve net zero emissions

In order to achieve net zero emissions, measures are to be implemented in four key areas: In energy supply, buildings, the vehicle fleet and in the area of airport technical facilities. You can find more information on Munich Airport's net zero climate strategy here.

How the airport supports airlines in reducing their CO2 emissions

In addition to consistently reducing its own emissions, Munich Airport also wants to make a contribution to climate-friendly air traffic. The airport is therefore pursuing a dual climate strategy. Not only is ground power available at most parking positions, which comes from the power grid (and not from mobile diesel generators) - Munich Airport has also created the possibility of supplying aircraft with pre-conditioned air in an energy-efficient manner. This eliminates the need to start the aircraft's own auxiliary power units during idle times. A bundle of other measures and projects are intended to support the companies based at the airport - in particular the airlines - in reducing their own CO2 emissions. Munich Airport will also promote the reduction of these so-called Scope 3 emissions in particular through joint research and development projects.

Electric vehicles are a matter of course on the apron at Munich Airport - from the stairs to baggage carousels and lifts for freight pallets to cars.

In the air

The further development of conventional aircraft technology has ensured that kerosene consumption has been falling continuously for years: according to the German Aviation Association (BDL), German airlines require an average of 3.56 liters per passenger and 100 kilometers (as of 2019) - compared to 6.3 liters in 1990. New aircraft types are contributing to further reductions: The Airbus A350, for example, consumes around 25 percent less fuel than comparable predecessor models. And the new "UltraFan" engine from manufacturer Rolls-Royce is expected to be a quarter more fuel-efficient than the previous technology when it is introduced from 2025.

Green aviation requires new concepts

In 2019, a year with heavy traffic, air traffic was responsible for 3.06 percent of all CO2 emissions worldwide (source: BDL). Aviation is pursuing the goal of flying completely CO2-neutral in the long term. This is more difficult to achieve than in other sectors of the economy. This is due to the long development times for aircraft, the fact that alternative technologies such as electric flying will only be available in the distant future, if at all, and the growing global demand for air transport.

Aviation has been able to significantly reduce fuel consumption and therefore also CO2 emissions per flight through the use of energy-efficient aircraft. However, experts agree that the goal of CO2-neutral air traffic cannot be achieved with conventional technology - new aircraft concepts and alternative fuels and propulsion systems must be developed.

The plan to replace fossil kerosene with renewable fuels is key in this context. Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) are mostly obtained from biomass, i.e. from renewable raw materials, so-called "Biomass to Liquid" fuels (BtL). In the future, however, synthetically produced kerosene will also be available on the market, so-called "Power to Liquid" fuels (PtL), which are produced by electrolysis using water, CO2 and renewable electricity. Since June 1, 2021, this "green kerosene" can also be used to refuel aircraft at Munich Airport.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) will be available at Munich Airport for the first time from June 2021 onwards.

Airlines have been able to refuel their aircraft used at Munich Airport with green kerosene since the beginning of June 2021. The fuel from renewable energies will be fed into the tank farm as a ready-to-fuel SAF blend. With this mixture of fossil kerosene and an added SAF content of around 35%, particularly climate-friendly flight operations will then be possible.

For travelers

If you want to keep your carbon footprint as small as possible, you can make a flight climate-neutral with just a few clicks of the mouse. Internationally recognized organizations such as myclimate or atmosfair offer a simple way of offsetting: if you enter the origin and destination of a flight on the provider's website, you can immediately see how much CO2 is emitted by the journey - for example, 0.412 tonnes of CO2 for a single passenger flying from Munich to London and back (economy, calculated on myclimate.org). To offset these emissions, travelers can make a donation of 20 euros to support climate protection projects in Europe and worldwide. The provider undertakes to offset the specified amount of CO2 with this contribution.

Strict quality standards apply and the projects are reviewed by independent experts. If you wish, you will receive a certificate with detailed information about the climate project supported.

Would you also like to make a contribution to climate protection? You can find even more information and tips on sustainable flying here.