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South African Airways is one of the first six airlines in the world to achieve IATA Environmental Assessment

Johannesburg, 09 June 2013. South African Airways (SAA) has become one of
the first airlines in Africa and one of six in the world to achieve IATA
(International Air Transport Association) Environmental Assessment Stage 1
status.

The achievement comes after IATA embarked on the IATA Environmental
Assessment (IEnvA), a two-year initiative to develop and establish an
environmental standard and environmental management system for over 240
IATA member airlines. The aim of the two-year initiative is to create a
minimum and recommended standard for airlines in areas such as general
recycling, on-board recycling, efficient flight and airport operations,
limiting and reducing carbon emissions, general energy efficiency as well
as environmentally conscious procurement procedures.



"We are very proud of being one of six global airlines to achieve IEnVA
Stage 1 status. As part of SAA's Group Environment Strategy and in SAA's
continuous effort to become one of the world's greenest airlines, our
customers can fly SAA assured that we are taking great steps to establish
ourselves as a market leader when it comes to environmentally friendly
operations, efficient aircraft, green buildings and environmentally
conscious employees," said SAA spokesperson, Mr. Tlali Tlali.



SAA was one of six airlines invited by IATA to participate in this
programme. Paul Steele of IEnVA elaborated: “I am delighted to announce
that SAA has satisfied the independent assessors and passed the IATA
Environmental Assessment Stage 1. IEnvA is the first environmental
management system applied to the aviation sector and enables an airline to
improve its environmental management and follow best environmental
practice. This makes SAA airline one of the world’s leading carriers in
the areas of environmental responsibility and sustainability.”



SAA's environmental goals include the following:

· complying with applicable regulations and other requirements;

· striving for the most efficient operations;

· working towards reducing carbon footprint;

· working towards minimising and preventing pollution;

· minimising waste and implementing recycling initiatives at SAA
facilities and on-board aircraft;

· integrating environmental concerns with all SAA’s planning and
decision making processes, by implementing effective environmental
management systems;

· operating using the most energy and water efficient practices;

· encouraging improvement in the environmental performance of SAA’s
suppliers through the development of environmental criteria within the
framework of SAA’s procurement policies;

· increasing environmental awareness among employees by proactively
communicating and promoting environmental issues and best practices that
impact on SAA;

· working toward and finding new and innovative ways in which to
improve SAA’s Environmental Programme; and

· working towards industry goals which are:

o a cap on aviation CO₂ emissions from 2020 (carbon neutral growth);

o an average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per year from 2009 to
2020.