South African Airways completes the highest level of IEnvA

Geneva –  South African Airways (SAA) this week became one of only two global airlines to achieve Stage 2 status of the IATA Environmental Assessment Program (IEnvA). IEnvA is a comprehensive airline environmental management process that measures a range of operational aspects.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that five airlines have recently successfully completed stages of the IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) program. Only Finnair and South African Airways completed the IEnvA Stage 2 assessment, the highest level of IEnvA achievement. This ensures that an airline has implemented all of the IEnvA Program Standards, identified and mitigated its significant environmental impacts, and has set performance targets. Stage 2 also certifies that an airline has developed processes for monitoring and reviewing its performance against its environmental targets and objectives.

 “In addition to safety, environmental responsibility is the highest priority for the industry. The new IATA Environmental Assessment sits alongside our industry-wide carbon-reduction targets as a program for ensuring airlines not only meet, but also exceed their day-to-day operational environmental obligations and performance. Our congratulations to Icelandair, Qatar Airways, and SriLankan Airlines for completing Stage 1, and I would particularly like to commend Finnair and South African Airways for being the first to complete the Stage 2 assessment. These airlines are among the pioneers in this critical new program. IATA’s audits and assessment schemes are impartial, independent evaluations designed to improve industry performance against global benchmarks. The IATA Operational Safety Audit has done much to help improve airline safety and we expect that the IEnvA will do the same for environmental standards,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director-General and CEO.