Air Transat earns climate award

Air Transat has been recognized as “Most Climate Efficient North American Net Carrier” by the German organization atmosfair, which for the second year in a row evaluated the environmental performance of some 130 carriers, rating their atmospheric CO2 emissions and ranking them in its Airline Index. The announcement was made at the Berlin Air Show. Allen B. Graham, president and CEO, Air Transat, and president, Transat Canada, said: “We are extremely pleased with the recognition our airline is receiving today. Air Transat has applied a stringent fuel management program since 2003, and more than five years ago we began intensifying efforts to adopt an effective environmental management system. Steadfast engagement and thorough work by all of our employees have enabled us to stand out as we do today among the very best international air carriers.” According to atmosfair (http://www.atmosfair.de), a non-profit organization founded in 2004 by Forum anders reisen and Germanwatch, the Airline Index helps travellers who are sensitive to environmental considerations choose airlines based on their CO2 emission levels. The carriers were evaluated and then given efficiency points ranging from zero to 100. The airlines that stood out were those with modern fleets adapted to their routes, high numbers of seats and high load factors. In addition to being named Most Climate Efficient North American Net Carrier, Air Transat this year ranked seventh in the world in the long-haul category of the atmosfair Airline Index. Seen in the photo, from l to r, are John Hetherington, director Airports Europe, Air Transat; atmosfair patron Prof. Dr. Hartmut Gral, former director at Max Planck Institute for Meteorology; and Klaus Milke, executive chairman of the NGO germanwatch Go to http://www.transat.com for more.