Earlier this month, Quality Fly flight academy – based at Madrid-Cuatro airport in Spain – became the “first European flight school to achieve carbon neutrality”.
Unique among flight schools in Spain, the training provider’s investment in “carbon-neutral integrated and modular commercial pilot programmes” (something it claims “very few in Europe” are doing) have helped it to reach this milestone; moving one step closer to the goal of becoming a zero-emissions flight school.
A number of strategies employed by Quality Fly have contributed to its status as ‘carbon-neutral’, including a paperless student journey and a newer fleet of more efficient airframes. (The academy currently operates the Tecnam P2006T, P2008 and P2002 models, as well as a Cessna 172S for upset recovery training). The school have also recently started to acquire 100% renewable energy, something they hope to bring to a “full 100% electric fleet” as technological advancements allow.
Although flight training currently involves an inherent level of direct emissions, CEO of Quality Fly Juan Cervero noted the company’s decision to “voluntary offset them by investing in clean energy projects in developing countries, namely India, which not only compensate for [Quality Fly’s] carbon footprint, but also have a positive social and economic impact in the region”.
Every year, students of more than 35 nationalities train with Quality Fly, reaching an estimate of over 4,000 combined flight hours (using roughly 93,000 litres of Avgas or Mogas). Quality Fly state its clean energy investments will more than offset its total emissions (around 210-200 tonnes of C02 equivalent), and remain “particularly excited about the ongoing development efforts in areas such as sustainable aviation fuel and hybrid and electric aviation”.
