SriLankan Airlines will become one of the first airlines in South Asia to introduce eco-friendly carpets onboard its aircraft after a successful trial. The eco-friendly carpets, sourced from Lantal Textiles in Switzerland, will help SriLankan Airlines reach another milestone in its journey toward a reduced carbon footprint through gradual fuel efficiency improvements.
“We are excited to debut sustainable carpets onboard our aircraft, which brings us a step closer to realizing our long-term plan of making our inflight experience more eco-friendly in tune with contemporary traveller expectations. We appreciate that travellers are becoming increasingly conscious about making ethical and sustainable lifestyle choices, as do businesses, and SriLankan Airlines is looking forward to embracing even more green solutions in its operations as we go forward,” remarked Maria Sathasivam, Manager Product Development of SriLankan Airlines.
The carpets are light weight and assembled from regenerated nylon made of material typically headed for landfill such as abandoned ocean fishing nets better known as ghost nets, aquaculture nylon waste, used carpet waste, used fabric waste and fabric scraps from mills. Besides being a green technology that minimizes landfill waste, it also uses significantly less crude oil, water and energy during production unlike in the manufacture of conventional virgin nylon.
The carpets’ light weight design will help reduce flight weight and in turn fuel cost. Once the fleet is fitted out with the carpets, SriLankan Airlines’ jet fuel consumption will decrease leading to savings of about LKR 21 million annually. The reduced use of fuel will additionally enable the airline to shrink its yearly carbon footprint by approximately 248.79 tons.
The airline’s environmental sustainability strategy is multifaceted, with initiatives on carbon footprint and waste reduction; biodiversity conservation; and environmental compliance running parallel at any given time. SriLankan was the first airline in Asia to introduce "Planet Friendly Flights" in 2009 and was named the second lowest carbon-emitting airline in the Asia-Pacific in 2016 by Business Traveller. SriLankan Airlines’ signature upcycle project, "Mathaka," beat out 118 other submissions to win the Best Aviation Sustainability Program Award at the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (SMBR) Global Aviation Awards in December 2022.
