|

Etihad’s Single Use Plastic Free Flight (Abu Dhabi to Brisbane)

a logo with palm trees

Earlier this week, Etihad had announced a 100% single-use plastic free flight. EY484 – operating from Abu Dhabi to Brisbane – was the chosen flight. April 21, 2019 was the chosen date.

I was very curious to know how they would pull it off. Single-use plastic is everywhere on an airplane. From the plastic covers on your cutlery, to the plastic cups for beverages. And remember it is a fourteen hour flight. What about toothbrush?

Louise Burke, editor of The National, UAE, was on this flight (business class). She has described her experience in a series of tweets. I am only posting them below for readers of this blog.

Business Class Amenity Kits

The kits were provided in a reusable jute bag. The perfume was provided in a glass bottle. Although, there might have been a teeny tiny plastic lid on it 🙂

Toys and Blankets for Kids

I especially like the package they have for kids. Not only are these made from recycled plastic, they look very cute.

Food

Business class meals are pre-plated in Etihad. Further, silverware is provided so eliminating plastic is not the most difficult thing to do.

For the economy meal, reusable trays, steel cutlery and paper bags were used.

Tea and Coffee

This one literally takes the cake (or the waffle to be precise). Coffee was provided in waffle cones (will not decompose for 40 minutes). More of this please!

Dental Care Products

Etihad provided a wheat straw composite toothbrush and chewable tablets as toothpaste. This was as innovative as the coffee cups I suppose.

Final Thoughts

This must have been an interesting flight. Single-use plastic is a menace and any effort to reduce this must be appreciated. I am certain that not every change made by Etihad on this flight is commercially viable. However, it is still an initiative worth applauding.

While this was a one-off, Etihad plans to reduce its single-use plastic usage by 80% by the end of 2022. Let’s hope all other airlines do the same.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *