CAPA says that the Middle East was the worst-performing region when it came to disclosure
Global aviation consultancy firm CAPA says that the global aviation industry falls very short on sustainability reporting in the absence of any standardisation of reporting formats.
In a report, CAPA says that the quality and clarity of sustainability reporting varies wildly between individual airlines, and there is little standardisation concerning level of disclosure or the metrics used. As the report notes, airline disclosure around environmental metrics is “largely incomplete, non-standardised and difficult to access”.
CAPA adds that there are also broader swings in ranking performance between geographic regions, along with substantial variations when it comes to operating and ownership models. It says that just five airlines or airline groups of the 106 that were scored in the latest version of the CAPA-Envest report achieved a full 5 out of 5 for disclosure of key performance indicators (KPIs).
In comparison, there were 23 airlines with a disclosure score of zero, meaning they made no public disclosure of environmental performance indicators or proxies for environmental performance, such as fuel use or fuel costs. Another 25 airlines scored just 1 out of 5 for disclosure.
CAPA-Envest Global Airline Sustainability Disclosure scores
| Disclosure | Europe | Asia Pacific | North America | South America | Africa | Middle East | Total |
| 5/5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 4/5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| 3/5 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| 2/5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1/5 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
| 0/5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 23 |
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation and Envest
CAPA says that European airlines ranked among the highest in terms of disclosure of environmental KPIs, accounting for four of the five airlines with a disclosure rating of 5, and seven of the 21 airlines ranked from the region achieved a disclosure rating of 4 out of 5.
Yet, nearly half of all European airlines rated scored either a 0 or a 1 for disclosure. This includes some major flag carriers and network airlines with notable sustainability programmes and marketing campaigns, it signals.
CAPA adds that some of these airlines are foundational members of Europe’s consolidated aviation groups, which have excellent reporting of KPIs at the group levels but obscure or omit reporting at the individual airline level.
The scenario is little different, according to CAPA, in Asia Pacific, where group-wide metrics are provided, but metrics for subsidiary airlines are absent. It adds that airlines in North America were outstanding in terms of disclosure performance. It adds that although no airline from that region was ranked in the top category for disclosure, six of the 13 airlines rated from the region scored a 4 out of 5 for disclosure of their KPIs.
Additionally, just a single North American airline was rated at 0 for disclosure and only two were scored at 1 out of 5. This reflects the stringent reporting requirements in the United States and the region’s move to adopt environmental, social and governance performance disclosure in recent years, adds CAPA.
Yet, in stark contradiction, the disclosure performance of the low-cost carriers in North America was poor, says CAPA. Although two LCCs achieved ratings of 4 out of 5, regional LCCs generally scored much lower than full service airlines when it came reporting sustainability KPIs.
CAPA says that the Middle East was the worst-performing region when it came to disclosure. Of the 10 airlines ranked in the region, six scored zero for disclosure of environmental KPIs. Some of the region’s largest and most profitable airlines were among the best-performing for disclosure in the region, an example that could lead others to raise their performance in this arena.
CAPA-Envest Global Airline Sustainability Disclosure: performance by region
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation and Envest
CAPA says that not just the industry’s disclosure, but even reporting standards from national or multi-national aviation authorities remain few and far between. Compared to financial reporting, where the airline industry largely complies with general accounting principles, reporting of environmental metrics is woeful.
With emissions taking on ever greater importance for individual travellers, corporations, and even investors and other stakeholders, the time has come for the airlines to step up with their sustainability reporting.
