Hi Fly airline becomes the world’s first airline to ban single-use plastic on board. The airline has been working towards eliminating plastic on their flights for greener aviation. President of Hi Fly, Paulo Mirpuri pledged in 2018 that all Hi Fly aircrafts will start operating without any single-use plastic items from 1st January 2020 onwards.
The airline has worked hard to replace all single-use plastic with bamboo cutlery, spoons, cups as well as salt and pepper shakers. Other items such as dishes, soft drink bottles and toothbrushes have been replaced with compostable alternatives made from recycled materials.
Paulo Mirpuri commented ahead of the 1st January milestone, “We pledged at the time of our historic Hi Fly test flights, without any single-use plastic items on board that we would make Hi Fly the world’s first plastic free airline within 12 months. We knew that if we worked hard to overcome the problems that it was 100% possible. More importantly, in our hearts, we knew it was much more than that. We knew that this was a 100% necessary move for the future of our planet.”
Hi Fly operated its first plastic-free trial flight in December 2018 from Lisbon to Natal, Brazil. Three more plastic-free test flights were followed shortly. The rounds of test flights concluded that every commercial passenger long haul flight taking off with no single-use plastic items on board prevents approximately 350 kg of plastic.
Operating worldwide, Hi Fly is an airline specialized in supplying commercial aircraft on wet lease operated by two affiliated airlines, one based in Portugal and the other in Malta. With an all Airbus fleet, Hi Fly is qualified and authorized to fly to every country in the world.
