EVA Air, CAL win corporate sustainability awards

Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) The dedication of Taiwan's two major airlines EVA Airways (EVA Air) and China Airlines (CAL) to environmental sustainability has resulted in them receiving several prizes in two major sustainability awards that were presented during a ceremony in Taipei on Wednesday.

EVA Air received seven awards and CAL five during the joint 2023 Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards (TCSA) and Global Corporate Sustainability Awards (GCSA) organized by the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE).

The carrier said it won the GCSA silver award for "sustainability reporting."

The airline also won six TCSA awards, a Taiwan top 100 sustainable enterprises award based on its outstanding performance, the platinum award for sustainability reporting in the transportation industry, and four others, including for outstanding innovation capabilities, formulating effective sustainable supply chain management policies, outstanding climate adaption performance and demonstrating excellent communication abilities with stakeholders.

Meanwhile, CAL received five awards, including the TCSA's best corporate sustainability report award, awards for "Climate Leadership," "Social Inclusion Leadership" and the top 10 Taiwanese sustainable service businesses award, as well as the GCSA silver award for "sustainability reporting."

EVA Air became the first Taiwan-based airline to commit to the Green Travel Carbon Offset Program in 2017 and has been implementing aviation fuel saving measures for several years, according to the company.

EVA Air President Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said the carrier is seeking to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a raft of fuel conservation measures. These include increasing its fleet of 787 Dreamliners to enable it to further reduce carbon emissions, flexibly adjusting water and service supplies on board according to the number of passengers, adopting new lightweight luggage lockers and other measures to reduce the weight of aircraft.

Eva Air also uses big data and data analytics to improve its fuel policy and optimize in-flight fuel consumption plans, Sun added.

Also Wednesday, CAL said in a statement it launched its first passenger flight earlier this year using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), defined as renewable or waste-derived aviation fuel that meets sustainability criteria, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions.

It also works with the "ECO Travel" carbon offset program to make the flights "net zero" by ensuring all passengers and cargo are carbon neutral, according to the company.