British Airways overhauls ground equipment at Heathrow

British Airways is overhauling its ground support equipment at Heathrow Airport in a multi-million investment program to reduce emissions both in the air and on the ground. The airline will gradually replace its Heathrow ground vehicles, such as cargo transporters, cars, passenger steps, and vans with hybrid or electric alternatives where available. ""At British Airways, we are committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner and our focus isn’t just about reducing emissions in the air, but on the ground too,"" said British Airways director of Heathrow Tom Moran. Improvements include replacing more than 750 pieces of grounding equipment from fossil fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel, replacing all diesel passenger aircraft steps with electric alternatives, and introducing 135 new electric baggage tugs. It will also phase out its fleet of 20 diesel-powered vehicles that support the loading and unloading of cargo containers and will gradually phase out 38 diesel passengers buses over the next two years. Moran added: ""This major investment into our vehicles at Heathrow is our largest investment in more sustainable airport ground operations to date and is part of our wider environmental objective to minimise emissions from our airside ground operation."" More than 90% of British Airways' vehicles and ground equipment at Heathrow are already either zero emissions electrical equipment, hybrids, or operating on HVO. The improvements are part of the airline's £7bn ($8.9bn) investment plan to transform areas of the business over the next three years.