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18 December 2023; Colombo – In a pioneering move, SriLankan Airlines will become one of the first airlines in South Asia to introduce carpets made using regenerated materials onboard its aircraft after a successful trial. The carpets, sourced from Lantal Textiles in Switzerland, are expected to contribute to lower aircraft weight and associated fuel consumption, helping SriLankan Airlines reach another milestone in its journey toward reducing fuel consumption and associated carbon emissions 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 lightweight 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 using regenerated materials that would otherwise require disposal, it also uses significantly less crude oil, water and energy during production than the manufacture of conventional virgin nylon, according to the supplier’s product information.

The carpets’ lightweight 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 reduce its annual carbon emissions by approximately 248.79 tonnes, based on the airline’s calculations.

The airline’s environmental strategy is multifaceted, with initiatives on fuel and carbon emissions and waste reduction; biodiversity conservation; and environmental compliance running parallelly at any given time. SriLankan was the first airline in Asia to introduce ‘Planet Friendly Flights’ back 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.