MONTREAL, Aug. 1, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada and Airbus have received the 2013 Eco-partnership award from the leading monthly aeronautical publication Air Transport World (ATW) for the first ever North American "Perfect Flight" that took place in June 2012.

The award ceremony will take place in September 2013, at ATW's Annual Eco-Aviation Conference held in Washington D.C., USA.

On the 18^th June 2012, Air Canada and Airbus together achieved an over 40 per cent reduction in CO² emissions using an Airbus A319 on a commercial flight from Toronto to Mexico. The flight brought together all best industry practices to demonstrate the huge potential benefits of the latest technology, modern air traffic management and operations, weight saving fittings and sustainable aviation fuels.

Key to the success of this "Perfect Flight" was the collaboration and endorsement of all stakeholders, authorities and industry partners.

Airbus and Air Canada's partnership went a further step forward in May of this year when they agreed with BioFuelNet Canada to assess Canadian solutions for the production of sustainable alternative jet fuels.

Teresa Ehman, Director, Environmental Affairs at Air Canada said, "All of us at Air Canada are thrilled with this award recognizing our joint 'Perfect Flight' with Airbus, a tangible example of our airline's commitment and responsibility to reducing our footprint.  We subsequently operated a second bio-fuel flight together, an Airbus A330, flying members of Canada's Olympic team to the London Games. Since 1990, Air Canada has become 33 per cent more fuel efficient and we are determined to continue increasing these gains through new technologies developed together with our industry partners, and the use of cutting-edge measures such as those deployed on these flights."

"Environment criteria - like emissions and noise are competitive drivers for Airbus and we have filled the technology pipeline with the most fuel efficient and quietest aircraft in their sectors," said Andrea Debbane, Airbus' Head of Environment Affairs. "We can reduce our environmental impact with technology but we have to work together as an industry to ensure the very highest environmental performance. Our ongoing partnership with Air Canada is a wonderful demonstration of how together we can do more and we are delighted that this has been recognised through the prestigious ATW Eco-partnership Award."

Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer offering a complete range of aircraft families, from 100 to well over 500 passenger seats, as well as the most modern, comprehensive and fuel-efficient product line on the market.

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and in 2012 served close to 35 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 53 destinations in the United States and 67 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,328 destinations in 195 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada