SpiceJet Implements Sustainable Transport for Employees Through e-Mobility

GURUGRAM:
The pioneer of sustainability initiatives in Indian aviation, SpiceJet, in yet another industry first effort, has implemented sustainable transportation for employees through its collaboration with eee-Taxi, an ‘end-to-end’ e-Mobility solution provider. The move aims to significantly reduce employee logistics cost, travel time and carbon footprint thus fulfilling its commitment towards sustainability goals. In the first phase, the airline has deployed a fleet of premium vehicles across Delhi-NCR region, including Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Faridabad.

eee-Taxi’s smart algorithm will help the airline optimise its operations by reducing the travel time to airports while enhancing the trip and journey management. Through route and cab optimization, the airline is eyeing to save costs up to 30% per vehicle in a 12 hour time horizon. The partnership is also offering the charging infrastructure which will help in making electric vehicle adoption simple, scalable and sustainable. It also aims at reducing Scope 3 emissions at zero investment.

SpiceJet has deployed electric cabs for transportation of its crew members in Delhi-NCR region. The airline is now looking at extending the service pan-India in a phased manner.

Debojo Maharshi, Chief Marketing Officer, SpiceJet, said, “At SpiceJet, we have always been strong advocates of reducing carbon footprints and making aviation smarter and more sustainable. The collaboration with eee-Taxi is yet another testament of our constant efforts towards a clean and green environment. The fleet of premium vehicles from global EV brands will contribute in making the airline carbon neutral. We want to see sustainability as the new normal than a mere initiative and e-Mobility is another significant step in that direction. ‘Electric’ is the present and future of the mobility across the globe and we are extremely glad and proud to be a part of this much-needed effort by collaborating with eee-Taxi for zero emission transport.”

eee-Taxi, which is funded by global petrochemical conglomerate Shell, is supported by various State Governments, International Government bodies and has partnerships with leading automotive OEMs to provide EV adoption in last mile connectivity. The entire operations will be commanded via Network Operation Centre (NOC) managed and controlled by SpiceJet. The e-Taxis will go through quality checks to ensure timely dispatch and constant tracking in order to provide a seamless and safe experience to all the crew members of the airline.

SpiceJet has always been at the forefront in pioneering practices committed to sustainability, with the objective of decarbonising the Indian aviation industry. The airline successfully used biojet fuel on a demo flight from Dehradun to Delhi in August 2018. SpiceJet also operated India’s first TaxiBot for towing an aircraft to the runway at T2, IGI Airport, Delhi. TaxiBot is a semi-robotic towing tractor that helps save up to 85% of fuel consumed during taxiing besides substantial reduction in CO2 emissions and noise levels. Similar benefits to accrue with the tie-up with WheelTug Plc for reserving 400 production slots for the state-of-the-art electric taxi system; and in February ‘20, SpiceJet introduced two electric tarmac coaches at the Chennai International Airport.

Other green initiatives of the airline include plantation drives, solar power projects, distribution of seed cards, Clean Ganga Fund, installing roof top solar panels in Majuli to provide the whole village with clean power, among many others. The airline has also initiated new in-flight food packaging by reducing single-use plastic and therefore promoting a culture of recycling, making them extremely environment friendly.

In its most recent initiative, SpiceJet, under the aegis of World Economic Forum (WEF) is leading WEF’s initiative of ‘Clean Skies for Tomorrow’ (CST); to fulfil its ambitious target of flying 100 million domestic passengers on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend by 2030. It was manifested in formulation of a blueprint, ‘Deploying Sustainable Aviation Fuels at Scale in India’.