ABU DHABI // Etihad Airways has been ranked the cleanest and quietest carrier by Heathrow Airport's “Fly Quiet and Clean” league table.
The table - which is the first of its kind - ranks 50 of the world’s busiest airlines and places the UAE’s national airlines among the top three carriers. British Airways’ short- haul flights had the best record with Aer Lingus coming in second and Etihad Airways ranking third. The ranking is based on the airlines' carbon emissions and night time noise performance during the first three months of 2017.
The London airport, which is the busiest in Europe and is known to have some of the world’s toughest rules and regulations on noise, hopes the quarterly report will encourage other carriers it handles to consider environmental impacts.
Rick Allen, senior vice president of operations at Etihad Airways, said the airline's performance is a result of their “disciplined flying programme”, which manages airport approaches and departures and obeys air traffic control instructions and procedures.
“In addition to safety, our pilots are trained to focus on efficient flying, especially into busy airports like Heathrow," Mr Allen said.
“This attention to detail brings great benefits in terms of lowering fuel usage and reducing noise. We will continue to work closely with the airport authorities and aim to stay at the top of the league of airlines operating into Heathrow.”
Earlier this year Etihad said its efforts to improve fuel efficiency and cut carbon dioxide emissions had saved more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel in 2016.
Among the airlines listed with the worst environmental impact - based on noise emissions and unscheduled night flights - were Israeli Airlines El Al, Kuwait Airlines, Middle East Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines.
Etihad Airways operates an Airbus A380 three times a day between Abu Dhabi and Heathrow.
