Image: Thomas Nugent · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
easyJet adopts digital fuel app with i6 Group to reduce emissions and costs
easyJet introduces the eHandshake digital refuelling platform to improve fuel ordering accuracy, cut excess fuel burn, lower expenses, and reduce carbon emissions across its network.
The gist
easyJet partners with i6 Group to launch a digital fuel app that cuts excess fuel load, saving costs and 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
easyJet is deploying a new digital tool designed to optimize aircraft fuel ordering processes, targeting reductions in fuel waste, operational delays, costs, and environmental emissions. The eHandshake platform, developed in partnership with the aviation technology firm i6 Group, enables pilots to order and confirm fuel electronically, replacing traditional paper-based methods. The rollout integrates directly with easyJet's existing electronic flight log (ETechlog) system, representing a significant modernization of their fuel management practices.
Historically, fuel requests at easyJet were handled manually, relying on paperwork and human data entry, which could lead to inaccuracies and inefficiencies. The new digital system allows pilots to submit precise fuel orders electronically before refuelling providers arrive, facilitating better coordination and minimizing potential delays. Upon refuelling completion, pilots confirm fuel quantities via the app, creating a comprehensive digital record that tracks fuel planned, requested, delivered, and accepted across the network.
All digital fuel data are stored centrally for transparency, operational review, and invoice verification. This connected workflow links pilots, ground fuel suppliers, and operational teams in real time, thus enhancing communication and ensuring that aircraft only carry the fuel needed for flight. By reducing unnecessary fuel carriage, the airline expects to achieve measurable efficiencies that benefit both their bottom line and environmental footprint.
Carrying excess fuel creates additional weight that leads to higher fuel consumption and increased greenhouse gas emissions. easyJet anticipates that fully deploying the eHandshake system could cut approximately 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually by reducing surplus fuel loads. The digital process will also eliminate about 600,000 sheets of paper per year by discontinuing manual paper-based fuel documentation, advancing the airline's sustainability goals onboard and on the ground.
The implementation of eHandshake will occur in phases, initially covering approximately half of easyJet’s flight network. The plan is to expand digital refuelling across around 90% of destinations served by the airline within the next three years. This phased approach will allow the airline to monitor performance and benefits before reaching near-full coverage.
Adam Baker, easyJet’s Head of Fuel Performance, highlighted the strategic importance of this initiative, emphasizing the airline’s focus on operational improvement through technology and innovation. He noted that integrating the eHandshake platform enhances fuel management by improving data quality, operational visibility, and enabling more efficient fuel consumption practices.
Alex Mattos, CEO and co-founder of i6 Group, expressed pride in collaborating with easyJet to enable a smoother, digitally connected refuelling process. He explained that embedding eHandshake into pilots’ existing technology workflow allows accurate sharing and verification of fuel data among pilots, suppliers, and operations teams, which drives operational efficiency, cost savings, and emissions reductions.
This digital fuel management project forms a vital component of easyJet’s broader net-zero carbon roadmap, which targets a 35% reduction in carbon emissions intensity by 2035. This emissions goal is validated by the Science Based Targets initiative and aligns with the airline’s commitments to fleet renewal, operational efficiency, airspace modernization, sustainable aviation fuels, and development of zero-emission technologies.
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Farnborough, UK, i6 Group is a specialist in cloud-based digital fuel management solutions with installations at over 300 airports worldwide. easyJet’s adoption of this platform marks a practical step forward by empowering pilots with better data and tools, cutting excess fuel carriage and associated emissions through tighter digital control and improved communication.
Frequently asked questions
- How does the new digital fuel system improve fuel ordering for easyJet pilots?
- The eHandshake platform allows pilots to submit fuel orders electronically and confirm delivered amounts digitally, replacing manual paperwork and reducing errors and delays.
- What environmental benefits does easyJet expect from implementing the eHandshake system?
- By reducing unnecessary fuel uplift, the airline estimates a potential saving of around 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually due to lower fuel burn from carrying less excess fuel.
- What is easyJet's carbon emissions reduction target related to this initiative?
- easyJet aims for a 35% reduction in carbon emissions intensity by 2035, a target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, with digital fuel management being a key part of the plan.
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TUI Group Posts Resilient Q3 Earnings Despite Iran Conflict Impact
TUI Group delivered a solid third-quarter performance in a challenging environment. The effects of the Iran war put downward pressure on both profit and revenue. Still, the company reported underlying EBIT of €234.6 million at constant currency. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(119); }); This result came against a record prior-year quarter and included broader geopolitical uncertainty plus one-off costs. The tourism group reaffirmed its full-year guidance for underlying EBIT between €1.1 billion and €1.4 billion. Its integrated business model, which includes owned hotels and ships, continues to show strength. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(127); }); Strong Underlying Results Despite Headwinds In the third quarter of financial year 2026, Group underlying EBIT reached €233.8 million, or €234.6 million at constant currency. This compared with €320.6 million in the same period last year. Results reflected higher geopolitical uncertainty that affected customer booking behaviour. A €20 million one-off impact linked to the Iran conflict also weighed on the numbers. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(128); }); Group revenue stood at €5.8 billion, down from €6.2 billion a year earlier. Customer volumes totalled 9.9 million, a decline of 3 percent. Most of the pressure came from the Markets + Airline segment. For the first nine months, underlying EBIT came in at €118.3 million, or €123.2 million at constant currency. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(129); }); Excluding €81 million of one-off costs from the Iran conflict and a Jamaica hurricane, the figure rose by €35 million, or €40 million at constant currency. This increase highlights the underlying strength of the business. Herbert394, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Segment Performance Shows Resilience Holiday Experiences remained the main driver of profits. Hotels & Resorts delivered underlying EBIT of €122.7 million. Demand stayed solid and average rates rose. Geopolitical issues affected some properties in the Eastern Mediterranean, Mexico and the Caribbean. Cruises generated underlying EBIT of €132.4 million. Strong demand for UK and German brands supported results, even after the €20 million Iran-related cost. TUI Musement improved to €22.7 million thanks to better B2B business and efficiency gains. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(130); }); Markets + Airline recorded underlying EBIT of –€17.4 million. Softer demand and higher pricing pressure played a role. The team managed capacity and yields carefully to stay competitive amid higher fuel costs and extra market capacity. Net debt stood at €2.3 billion on 30 June 2026, up €0.4 billion year-on-year. The rise mainly reflected lower customer deposits as people booked closer to departure. Booking Momentum Improves Booked revenue for Summer 2026 in Markets + Airline improved by one percentage point to –6 percent since the May update. Momentum over the past four weeks has been encouraging. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(131); }); Booked revenue ran 7 percent ahead of the prior year. This trend shows resilient demand for holidays and the appeal of TUI’s product range. Holiday Experiences trading for the fourth quarter points to solid underlying demand. The company continues to expand capacity in line with its growth strategy. Winter 2026/27 bookings remain at an early stage with limited visibility. Customers still focus on summer plans and book later than before. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(132); }); Future Outlook TUI has suspended its revenue guidance. It continues to expect underlying EBIT in the range of €1.1 billion to €1.4 billion for the full year. The outlook assumes no major escalation in geopolitical tensions and stable fuel supplies. The company is also advancing its sustainability goals. It launched Mein Schiff Flow, which will operate on e-LNG together with Mein Schiff Relax. TUI Airline added 14 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft that use about 15 percent less fuel than the planes they replace. TUI’s integrated model of owned hotels, ships and distribution channels continues to prove its value. The business has navigated a volatile period while keeping its strategic transformation on track. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(133); }); With a strong balance sheet and improving booking trends, the group remains well positioned for the rest of the year.
airBaltic plans major fleet cut to 36 aircraft by end of 2026 amid financial challenges
Latvian flag carrier airBaltic has been in a rough financial spot for some time, and in recent weeks there has been talk of the airline potentially needing to suspend operations due to running out of cash. The airline has now unveiled a new business plan, intended to strengthen its long term sustainability. This is actually a pretty radical transformation, so expect a lot of things at the airline to change… particularly, its network! First let's talk about what's changing, and then we'll talk about how airBaltic got into this situation in the first place. airBaltic unveils updated, long term business plan airBaltic's supervisory board has just approved the carrier's updated business plan, which is intended to strengthen the company's long term competitiveness, establish a sustainable capital structure, support future development, and maintain reliable connectivity for Latvia and the wider region. Here's what will be changing, summarized as succinctly as possible: airBaltic currently has a fleet of 54 Airbus A220-300s, and was planning on growing that fleet to 100 planes ; however, the airline now plans to shrink instead, decreasing its fleet to just 36 planes by the end of 2026, before eventually increasing the fleet to around 40 planes by 2031 The airline plans to largely maintain its scheduled capacity (since the airline does a lot of leasing out of aircraft — more on that below); available seat kilometers are expected to decline from 9.6 billion in 2026 to 8.7 billion in 2027, before gradually increasing to 10.5 billion by 2031 airBaltic will continue to have a network heavily focused on Latvia, but rather than pursuing broad expansion, the airline will focus on deepening its presence in existing markets by increasing frequencies where demand and profitability are strongest airBaltic largely leasing out its aircraft to other airlines under a wet lease model (particularly Lufthansa Group carriers), but the airline plans to increasingly focus on year-round deployment with this strategy, to mitigate the seasonal issue To fund these changes, airBaltic is seeking 225 million EUR in interim financing, intended to bridge the company to a permanent financing solution. The company is also seeking 100 million EUR of new capital. Here's how Erno Hildén, airBaltic's CEO, describes this updated strategy: "Every successful airline must continuously adapt to a changing market. Thus, this business plan is about making disciplined choices that strengthen airBaltic's long-term competitiveness while preserving what matters most – reliable connectivity and operations, together with financial sustainability. It provides a stronger foundation for the company's future and positions us to create long-term value for our customers, partners and Latvia." airBaltic's fleet will shrink to just 36 planes How airBaltic has found itself in such a tough spot airBaltic has historically been an incredibly well run airline. The CEO used to be Martin Gauss, but he was fired (which I found to be an odd decision) , and he's now CEO of Gulf Air . airBaltic operates an all-Airbus A220 fleet, and the airline had huge growth plans, and intended to acquire 100 of these aircraft. For a long time, the idea was as follows: Latvia has convenient geography for connections in Northern Europe, as well as to Russia, etc. Latvia is part of the European Union, but airBaltic has a major cost advantage, given that Latvia is a bit cheaper than some other countries in the EU, so there was merit to the airline wet leasing its aircraft to other airlines However, as you'd expect, the situation has evolved over time. With Russian airspace closed to airlines from the European Union, that has massively limited airBaltic's potential route network, and particularly has limited the number of connecting itineraries the airline can sell. If the current conflict with Russia didn't apply, it would be a totally different story at airBaltic. While airBaltic continues have a robust wet leasing business, the issue is that most airlines looking to lease planes only need them in summer, and not winter, given that it's when demand is highest. In early 2025, Lufthansa Group even bought a small stake in airBaltic , in part because of how much it values the wet lease agreements for subsidiaries like Lufthansa, SWISS, Brussels Airlines, etc. But the issue is that summer-only wet leases need to be able to cover costs not just for summer, but also winter, since it's not like airBaltic has anywhere to profitably fly those excess planes in winter. What has really caused issues for airBaltic in recent times is the increase in fuel costs. Not only have fuel costs increases been particularly bad in Northern Europe, but it's also tough to be a full service(ish) airline that exclusively has a regional network, given how robust ultra low cost carrier competition is in the region. Unfortunately for airBaltic, shrinking probably is the right choice here. That way the airline can focus its network on routes that are actually profitable, and on top of that, can be more selective about wet leasing, to airlines that actually value having planes on a year-round basis. airBaltic will shrink its wet lease operations Bottom line airBaltic has been on the brink of collapse in recent months, and the company's board has approved a new business plan, which will include some major changes. The most significant change is that the carrier's fleet will go from 54 planes to 36 planes by the end of the year. Then by 2031 the fleet will grow to 40 planes, compared to the planned 100 planes. With this downsizing, airBaltic also plans to increasingly focus on its most profitable routes, so expect some network cuts. We'll also see reductions to the carrier's wet leasing operations, as the airline tries to secure year-round deals, rather than just seasonal deals. What do you make of these airBaltic updates?
Massive Colombia earthquake disrupts flights; major airports sustain damage
Social media videos showed damaged ceilings and broken windows at an airport in Pereira. A massive earthquake that hit Colombia on 10 August impacted several major airports in the region, causing flight cancellations. Videos on social media show major damage at Matecana airport in Pereira, near the earthquake's epicentre. Large portions of the airport's ceiling and windows appeared to have broken, leaving debris strewn across the terminal interior. The airport sees about two-dozen flights per day, most of which are cancelled into Tuesday and beyond, FlightRadar24 data show. Operations were also suspended at airports in Manizales, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura, Colombia's aviation authority said Monday, pending inspections of facilities and control towers for damage. Some had begun to reopen by Tuesday morning, local time. Seventy-eight flights were cancelled at El Dorado airport in Bogota on Monday, according to FlightAware, and another 312 were delayed. Alfonso Bonilla Aragon airport in Cali reopened late Monday local time after a power outage, authorities say, which resulted in about 40 flights being cancelled. Jose Maria Cordova airport in Medellin says it is operating normally on Tuesday after being evacuated on Monday. Sixteen flights were cancelled into and out of the airport on Monday. In Popayan, south of the most impacted area, flights at Guillermo León Valencia airport were restricted due to emissions from the Purace volcano, adding further complication to the nation's airspace. The 7.4-magnitude quake struck about 200 miles west of the country's capital of Bogota. More than 180 people had been confirmed dead by Colombian authorities in their latest update Tuesday morning local time, as reported by local paper El Tiempo . Avianca says passengers with tickets for flights on Monday could reschedule for up to 15 days with no penalties. "We continue to monitor the evolving situation and traveller demand to adjust our operations and implemented measures according to the country’s connectivity needs," says Avianca.
Air Baltic to scale back A220 fleet to around 40 aircraft in strategic overhaul
Latvian carrier envisages a long-term fleet of around 40 A220-300s as it works on €225m interim recapitalisation. Air Baltic is to cut its fleet to around 40 Airbus A220-300s under a new long-term strategic plan, supported by moves for an initial interim €225 million ($260 million) recapitalisation. The Latvian carrier operates a fleet of 54 A220s but, under the plan announced today, expects this to fall to 36 by the end of the year and to stand at 41 by 2031. Under the carrier's previous business plan, developed in line with an anticipated IPO, Air Baltic envisaged expansion towards a 100-strong aircraft fleet off the back of “sustained growth” in passenger volumes and ticket revenue across the Baltic region and wider European markets. "Since then, the operating environment has changed materially," the carrier says, citing moderated demand and revenue growth, geopolitical events in the Ukraine and the Middle East and the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issues which have restricted the carrier's ability to deploy its full fleet. "The revised business plan responds to these developments with a deliberate shift in priorities: financial stability first, growth second,” the carrier says. “It aligns Air Baltic's network, fleet, cost base and capital structure with current market conditions." Earlier this year Air Baltic secured consent from the country's parliament for a short-term state loan of €30 million to prop up its liquidity. The carrier’s medium-term strategy had centred on an IPO to raise capital, but market conditions and the company's financial position left the timing and feasibility of such a venture uncertain. Air Baltic chief executive Erno Hilden, who took the helm in December last year, says: "Every successful airline must continuously adapt to a changing market. Thus, this business plan is about making disciplined choices that strengthen Air Baltic's long-term competitiveness while preserving what matters most – reliable connectivity and operations, together with financial sustainability." Air Baltic's revamped business plans will focus on its Riga hub, but rather than "pursuing broad expansion”, will add depth and frequency on existing routes where demand and profitability are strongest. This will be supplemented by selected point-to-point services and seasonal flying to improve fleet utilisation. While the carrier envisages scheduled capacity initially falling, it sees this surpassing current levels by 2031, reflecting what it terms "a more focused network strategy". The carrier aims to strengthen its commercial partnerships with ACMI customers as part of efforts to boost its profitability. Air Baltic is targeting €45 million in recurring annual benefits from the measures, predominantly generated through cost savings. The carrier's plan also includes measures to recapitalise. It aims to address its near-term liquidity requirements through €225 million of interim financing. "The interim financing is intended to bridge the company to a permanent financing solution and remains contingent on the required bondholder resolutions and other approvals," it says. The carrier's proposed permanent financing package comprises up to €225 million of new debt financing and €100 million of new equity capital. Air Baltic expects to post revenues of around €800 million this year, rising to €1 billion by 2031. The plan envisages its EBITDAR to reach €192 million next year and €300 million in 2031.
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