Catching David Barker as he just finished speaking on the panel about sustainability at the GHI Americas conference in Miami on 30 March was the perfect time for him to share dnata’s approach to the industry’s green agenda with the editor.
dnata has already made its name in this area achieving the first green turnaround in Dubai and then later in the US.
dnata has set its sights on doing a green all-electric widebody turnaround this summer in the US alongside its suppliers. A month ago, it performed an all green widebody pushback at Dubai World Central airport (DWC) on a Boeing 777.
“There has not been an all widebody green turn yet in the US, but we are going to demo a Ranger Loader from JBT and use our electric tugs from Charlatte,” said Barker.
Something the rest of the industry will watch with interest. On the whole theme of sustainability, Barker says dnata has adopted a more cautious approach to achieving a zero-carbon mandate across its operations at this stage.
“It is not easy to position an aviation business as sustainable. But the industry has set a target of net zero emissions by 2050 and there are many things we can all do to reduce our impact. We’ve switched to renewable energy at existing facilities and our new facilities incorporate the latest carbon reduction initiatives in design and operations.
“Our investments globally include solar PV panels, air-source heat pumps and electric vehicle charging. We are very confident that we are going to meet our targets and reduce our carbon footprint by 20% by 2024 and by 50% by 2030,” he explained.
It is not easy to position an aviation business as sustainable
The reality is, however, that airports don’t have the necessary infrastructure in place, especially in the US, to support green equipment, something which Barker thinks will change dramatically in the next few years.
“The good news is that with the trillion dollar Infrastructure Bill in the US, we think that we are going to have more electric grants so we know it’s the way of the future. We expect to see a massive change between now and 2025 in infrastructure improvement.
“In recent years we’ve replaced a large number of ramp vehicles, GSE and forklifts with hybrid and electric alternatives. In addition, we’ve refurbished GSE where appropriate to extend life-cycles, decrease engine emissions, reduce waste and update them to the latest safety and quality standards.
“What we are seeing now is that the green agenda is being reenergized. JFK, Boston, and Newark are all putting green initiatives in place between 2025 and 2030, with a lot of them putting mandates to be 25% green by 2025 and net-zero by 2030. These airports are also limiting the age of their fleets,” said Barker.
“We are deeply committed to sustainability. Sustainability is key to staying on track with our vision to be the world’s most admired air services provider. Besides our continuous investment in our green GSE fleet, we’ve been running several initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint by minimising waste, cutting out single use plastic (SUP) and decreasing energy and water consumption in our facilities.”
Drones & Avs
An area where dnata is taking the lead is with the use of drone technology in its cargo warehouses.
“We have partnered with Gather AI, a US-based technology start-up, and launched autonomous drones in our warehouses at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in the USA, to digitise acceptance and warehouse inventory processes by monitoring shipments with 99.8% accuracy,” said Barker.
It works through the use of QR codes located on the ceiling and in all the ranking. The drone makes lists of the freight every night and takes pictures without having someone present to do it.
“This new technology, combined with our strong cargo product expertise, enables us to significantly enhance efficiency and mitigate the risk of revenue leakage throughout the customer journey. It also reduces carbon footprint because more freight on board means less planes in the air.”
Another field where dnata is at the forefront is trialing autonomous vehicles.
“We demoed an autonomous vehicle at Los Angeles Airport from the cargo warehouse at LAX all the way round to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The beauty of it is that it works on any electric vehicle and is definitely a big area to watch. We already have autonomous vehicles in Amsterdam that can remove ULDs. We are ahead than anyone else on autonomous vehicles – it will save money on labour and is much safer.”
