BackWe’re working towards a more sustainable future for aviation and are pleased to offer a range of responsible travel options.
THE FUTURE OF AVIATION
We’re proud to be in a position to offer some carefully researched sustainable travel options for clients and colleagues. We believe there’s more we can do than simply carbon offsetting.
Read more about our Clean Sky Index, Sustainable Travel Reporting, Emissions Offsetting ESG Accountability Reports below. If you’d like more information, please get in touch to arrange a call with our Sustainability Officer, Dominic Zoltowski.
The Equinox Enhanced Sustainability Initiative; established as part of our own day-to-day business operations and offered to clients as a way to assist with their own sustainability efforts.
EESI is an in-house sustainability initiative that assesses commercial and private air operators on their flight operations culture, efforts and procedures – in addition to standard initiatives such as carbon and emissions offsetting and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) use.
EESI helps clients make informed aircraft and operator choices to minimise and mitigate their carbon (and non-carbon) emissions, helping to reduce the environmental impact of their travel.
Our Sustainable Flight Operations Consultant takes a three-tiered approach to analysing operators, based on a unique and detailed 100 point flight operations checklist.
It takes into account technical and non-technical operational actions, human factors, corporate culture, flight planning and much more.
Lower-tier assessments look at a combination of existing carbon mitigation culture, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) efforts, as well as published operations data and other available third-party information.
Our Sustainable Flight Operations Consultant takes a three-tiered approach
CLEAN SKY INDEX
CLEAN MISSION REPORT
OFFSETTING WITH 4AIR
EMPTY LEGS
SMALL MEASURES
The Clean Sky Index empowers clients to control how their travel impacts the environment.
The Index demonstrates to clients how prospective operators, whether charter or scheduled aircraft, perform within two specific criteria: 1.Net zero initiatives towards emission mitigation (from Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) use to offsetting efforts and future tech investment); 2. Flight Operations policies and practice regarding emissions minimisation, including flight procedures, in-flight performance, and efforts to reduce non-CO2 emissions.
This allows travel buyers an informed choice of operator and therefore taking conscious action towards reducing the environmental impact of the travel.
Clean Mission Report aids accountability for sensitive charters and publicly accountable passengers.
This is another industry-first, providing clients with mission-specific, trip-by-trip sustainability reports. The report looks at a number of factors including ground operations, loading specifics, route planning, contrail avoidance and more.
It starts with a technical pre-flight agreement with an operator that serves to assure a client that there will be the most sustainable flight operations efforts made possible before and during flight.
4AIR gives access to comprehensive turnkey programs that can be applied to an environmental commitment.
Partnering with 4AIR, an Air Charter Association-approved organisation, Equinox clients can access a range of offsetting measures designed specifically for aviation.
The 4-tiered rating programs range from ‘carbon neutral’ via verified carbon credits to ‘climate champion’, where contributions are made to the Aviation Climate Fund, which funds research and development of new technologies to make aviation more sustainable.
Level 1 requires a 100% carbon dioxide (CO2) offset.
Level 2 requires a 300% offset to comprehensively offset emissions including non-CO2 emissions like nitrous oxides or the formation of contrails.
Level 3 requires a 5% direct emission reduction and is achieved through operational changes, buying new aircraft, or through use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Level 4 requires a direct contribution to the non-profit Aviation Climate Fund. Contributions to the fund will support research and development for future aviation technologies and emission reduction solutions.
4AIRs programs use scientific goals, independently verified results, and progressively greater impacts on sustainability to make it easy for aviation users to pursue sustainability through access to carbon markets, use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, support for new technologies, and other strategies.
It’s a sad fact that almost 60% of aircraft that are in the air are flying empty.
So we make efforts to encourage clients to take empty legs whenever their schedules allow and we actively work with operators who proactively fill empty legs.
We use sophisticated software to monitor empty legs, particularly during busy periods, and to market empty legs on popular routes where relevant to our clients’ flying habits.
Paperless administration, working from home, remote meetings, and using electric vehicles.
These small measures form part of our own ESG; the environmental measures that we actively encourage across the company to reduce our environmental impact.
CLEAN SKY INDEX
The Clean Sky Index empowers clients to control how their travel impacts the environment.
The Index demonstrates to clients how prospective operators, whether charter or scheduled aircraft, perform within two specific criteria: 1.Net zero initiatives towards emission mitigation (from Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) use to offsetting efforts and future tech investment); 2. Flight Operations policies and practice regarding emissions minimisation, including flight procedures, in-flight performance, and efforts to reduce non-CO2 emissions.
This allows travel buyers an informed choice of operator and therefore taking conscious action towards reducing the environmental impact of the travel.
CLEAN MISSION REPORT
Clean Mission Report aids accountability for sensitive charters and publicly accountable passengers.
This is another industry-first, providing clients with mission-specific, trip-by-trip sustainability reports. The report looks at a number of factors including ground operations, loading specifics, route planning, contrail avoidance and more.
It starts with a technical pre-flight agreement with an operator that serves to assure a client that there will be the most sustainable flight operations efforts made possible before and during flight.
OFFSETTING WITH 4AIR
4AIR gives access to comprehensive turnkey programs that can be applied to an environmental commitment.
Partnering with 4AIR, an Air Charter Association-approved organisation, Equinox clients can access a range of offsetting measures designed specifically for aviation.
The 4-tiered rating programs range from ‘carbon neutral’ via verified carbon credits to ‘climate champion’, where contributions are made to the Aviation Climate Fund, which funds research and development of new technologies to make aviation more sustainable.
Level 1 requires a 100% carbon dioxide (CO2) offset.
Level 2 requires a 300% offset to comprehensively offset emissions including non-CO2 emissions like nitrous oxides or the formation of contrails.
Level 3 requires a 5% direct emission reduction and is achieved through operational changes, buying new aircraft, or through use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Level 4 requires a direct contribution to the non-profit Aviation Climate Fund. Contributions to the fund will support research and development for future aviation technologies and emission reduction solutions.
4AIRs programs use scientific goals, independently verified results, and progressively greater impacts on sustainability to make it easy for aviation users to pursue sustainability through access to carbon markets, use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, support for new technologies, and other strategies.
EMPTY LEGS
It’s a sad fact that almost 60% of aircraft that are in the air are flying empty.
So we make efforts to encourage clients to take empty legs whenever their schedules allow and we actively work with operators who proactively fill empty legs.
We use sophisticated software to monitor empty legs, particularly during busy periods, and to market empty legs on popular routes where relevant to our clients’ flying habits.
SMALL MEASURES
Paperless administration, working from home, remote meetings, and using electric vehicles.
These small measures form part of our own ESG; the environmental measures that we actively encourage across the company to reduce our environmental impact.
