EasyJet Rolling Out Lighter Paint To Reduce Fuel Burn

Airlines are always looking for ways to lower their emissions, both to meet their climate goals, and also to reduce costs (after all, less fuel burn leads to savings). Along those lines, EasyJet has just introduced an interesting initiative, which shows how a little change can make a big collective difference…

EasyJet hopes to reduce fuel burn by 1,296 tons per year

EasyJet is currently rolling out a lower-weight aircraft paint, in partnership with Mankiewicz Aviation Coatings, which is anticipated to eventually save up to 1,296 tons of fuel annually. 1,296 might not sound like a big number for an airline with hundreds of planes, but that’s 2,592,000 pounds of fuel, or roughly 381,000 gallons.

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So far, the new paint has been applied to 38 EasyJet aircraft. The rollout is only happening gradually, as planes would naturally be repainted, so the project is expected to be completed by 2030. EasyJet is the first airline in the world to be introducing this new paint, and it’s one of many techniques the airline is using to reduce emissions.

The new system reduces the amount of paint needed to create the iconic EasyJet livery colors. Here’s how Lahiru Ranasinghe, the company’s Director of Sustainability, describes this:

“EasyJet is constantly exploring and developing innovative solutions to lower the impact of our operations. While this forms a small part of a bigger strategy, formulating a new lightweight paint with our partners at Mankiewicz Aviation Coatings exemplifies how we’re assessing every single part of our operation to find efficiency gains to help us achieve this mission.”

This “only” reduces weight by 27 kilograms per plane

Here’s what I find so interesting. 381,000 gallons of fuel per year is a pretty significant amount. So, how much is the weight actually being reduced with this paint change? Well, the new paint only leads to a weight reduction of 27 kilograms (roughly 60 pounds) per aircraft, so that really isn’t a whole lot.

For context, the maximum takeoff weight of an Airbus A320neo is around 79,000 kilograms (around 172,000 pounds), so we’re talking about a tiny fraction of a percent reduction in the overall weight of the aircraft.

But it shows you how small changes can make a big difference when applied across a large fleet. When you consider the cost of jet fuel, saving 381,000 gallons easily translates to roughly a million dollars in savings annually. Now, I’m not sure if painting aircraft with the lighter paint is cheaper (since less is needed) or more expensive (since it’s more advanced), but that’s the math on an ongoing basis, at least. Then again, the airline has over $7 billion in revenue annually, so $1 million is a tiny fraction of that.

It’s nice when the opportunity for incremental savings are considered when we’re talking about things like reducing emissions. However, I think we all know that airline executives often have similar logic with much of the passenger experience. Saving a few cents here and there on each passenger can translate to a lot of money across the system.

Bottom line

EasyJet is introducing a lighter paint for its aircraft. This will reduce the weight of each aircraft by 27 kilograms, and when rolled out across the fleet by 2030, it’s expected to lead to a reduction in fuel burn of 1,296 tons per year. That’s a lot of fuel in absolute terms, though a tiny fraction of what the airline consumes.

What do you make of EasyJet’s lighter paint initiative?