Emirates Drops In-Flight Magazine To Save Fuel
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA 
on 08. 6.08
When Andrew reported on airlines shaving fuel costs any way they can, commenter J Walsh shared some astounding calculations with us regarding how much weight is represented by in-flight magazines (around 498,750 punds for one airline per day!). Kristin already noted that Jet Blue counts its lack of in-flight magazine as part of its green credentials, but it seems others are following suit. According to The Guardian, Emirates is ditching its magazine to save fuel, and others are at least slimming the page count:
“ According to Emirates' president Tim Clark, the decision to ban all onboard paper will lighten the aircraft by a tonne. "It's 2kg per seat and 500 seats, a worthwhile saving," he says. "We are doing it because of fuel prices and the environment. The printed matter will be replaced by content shown on the aircraft's seat-back TVs."
...Both Northwest Airlines and Japan Airlines revealed plans last month to reduce weight by cutting pagination. That Japan Airlines is reducing its magazine size will surprise many in-flight aficionados - by the early 1990s the carrier had one of the largest magazines in the world.”
Of course cutting back on magazines has added benefits, from saving paper and ink, to eliminating the energy used in manufacture – as someone who has always hated in-flight magazines, I can only welcome it as a good thing. Of course flying remains an incredibly energy-intensive activity, but every little helps in cutting back our levels of consumption.
::The Guardian::via site visit::
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I actually appreciate this. It's cutting fuel the smart way. They should at least provide an information card about meals/in-flight movies, though. And maybe carry a few magazines to be sold in flight for people who really do need something to read, but instead have them be real magazines one would buy at a newstand. This makes for a net of less weight and less expense and waste printing a magazine nobody liked. I'm guessing they are losing some ad revenue, but fuel costs are probably making losing the magazines a rational move economically.
This woud be the same Emirates that's flying half a tonne of water around in their A380 so a few people can have a shower?
Of course, if you read some other sources like: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080728/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_emirates then you find out they're planning to carry and extra half ton of water on board their new A380s so they can have showers in first class. They don't seem quite so green now, do they?
I would be interested to see what Etihad is doing. Both in terms of fuel savings, but also in approaches to emission reduction for environmental purposes.
As you probably know Abu Dhabi emirate is engaging in Estidama (their LEED program, tailored to local cultural and environmental issues) which I believe will be a requirement instead of just a "stamp". Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world and has set up their planning agency to make the city a model of sustainability for the world.
(Etihad of course being the equivalent of Emirates Airlines, but for Abu Dhabi Emirate instead of Dubai Emirate in the UAE).
Sure, they're punishing the coach seats to subsidize the first class folks. Sounds about right.
what will i do w/o my Sky Mall!? :)
Next up: removal of floatation devices.
It's 2kg per seat and 500 seats, a worthwhile saving," he says. "We are doing it because of fuel prices and the environment. The printed matter will be replaced by content shown on the aircraft's seat-back TVs."
hmmm... and how much do the tvs weigh?
Yes and advertising on the seat televisions will be far more effective too- cant just ignore something staring you in face (unless you are wearing the provided sleeping masks, which, if also scrapped Im sure would also save a further 49,871 pounds of inflight weight per day!)