Etihad Airways Eliminates 195,000 Tonnes of Carbon Emissions in 2017

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Etihad Airways successfully eliminated around 195,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2017, thanks to a wide range of fuel-saving initiatives across its network.

Following a number of improvements aimed at enhancing operational efficiencies, Etihad was able to reduce the amount of fuel consumed by its aircraft by over 62,000 tonnes of fuel. The result represents a 3.3 per cent improvement from the year before, and is the equivalent of 850 flights between Abu Dhabi and London.

For instance, flight plan adjustments across the network reduced approximately 900 hours of flying time, leading to a saving of 5,400 tonnes of fuel and eliminating approximately 17,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Last year, Etihad Airways also retired several older aircraft in favour of the Boeing 787, one of the most fuel efficient commercial aircraft in operation due to its lightweight composite structure. Etihad currently operates 19 Boeing 787s in its 115-strong fleet of passenger and cargo aircraft, which is one of the youngest in the skies at an average age of 5.4 years.

Richard Hill, Chief Operations Officer at Etihad Airways, said: “2017 was a particularly good year for fuel efficiency. The combination of retiring some of our older aircraft and increasing the proportion of Boeing 787 aircraft within our fleet, together with optimising our flight paths among a range of other initiatives has made a noticeable improvement to our fuel consumption and emissions profile.”

Etihad also strengthened its collaboration with air traffic control providers at many of the major airports to which it operates, in particular in Abu Dhabi, in order to improve the efficiency of many of the descent and approach profiles. The most fuel efficient descent manoeuvre is known as a ‘continuous descent approach’, whereby the aircraft reduces height gradually, rather than in a stepped manner. Thanks to an increase in the number of continuous decent approaches in 2017, a total of 980 tonnes of fuel was saved over the course of the year.

By combining key fuel saving projects with operational improvements, the efficiency per passenger kilometre improved by as much as 36 per cent on some of Etihad’s routes.

Ahmed Al Qubaisi, Senior Vice President Government and International Affairs for Etihad Aviation Group, said: “We place a high value on sustainability and are always looking for new opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint. We’re extremely proud of our year-on-year improvement, which benefits not only Etihad in terms of fuel savings but also the environment on a wider level. This result is a testament to the focused collaboration of teams across our business as well as strong cooperation with important local and international partners in Abu Dhabi and across our network.”

Etihad has a broad programme of innovative thinking devoted to sustainability and carbon reduction, refined through continuous operational adjustments as well as long-term projects such as aviation biofuel development. Hosted in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, the biofuel pilot facility is the flagship project of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium led by the Masdar Institute and supported by members Etihad Airways, Boeing, ADNOC Refining, Safran, GE and Bauer Resources.

Proudly Up In the Air Again at the Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival

Wazzup Pilipinas!

All things came into place as if we were destined to be there flying up in the air again in a hot air balloon. To be specific, I rode on the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) hot air balloon but flown by a foreign pilot.

From the availability of restaurants to feature, and a luxurious accommodation to become our temporary home, our planned coverage of the Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival turned out to be more glamorous than we expected.

We basically never expected the opportunity to ride a hot air balloon. We were actually contented with just seeing them getting inflated and taking photos and videos (including selfies and groupfies) as they flew up into the skies of Lubao, Pampanga.

However, someone up there has better plans for us as He has given us more than what we wished for.

Incidentally, a request to feature a new restaurant at SM Clark, Pampanga also played a big part in our Pampanga tour. When we found out the restaurant owner also has a villa for rent, we asked her if she could also let us stay overnight, and quickly jumped on the opportunity when she agreed.

But we were still pushing our luck. With her having a second (and even a third) restaurant, we swallowed our pride and asked if she could let us feature her other restaurant, and we were in Cloud 9 when she agreed.

Yet still our luck was going non-stop as we met a friend of hers who happens to own another restaurant, and it is as if fate has connived with destiny to make our Pampanga story a lot more interesting, we were happy we got ourselves another restaurant feature.

That and another buffet restaurant at SM Clark, since we still have unused Gift Certificates that we could use, made it a total of four restaurants to feature in our blog.

How to Elevate Your Blog at the Ready Set Blog 2.0: Merging Empowered Bloggers Event

Wazzup Pilipinas!

From one of the founders of the Ready, Set, Blog bloggers event, I decided for a low-profile participation instead and wanted to join as just one of the attendee. This was because I was back working on an 8 to 5 job which equates to a lot of limitations like I can't stay late at an event because I will surely have a hard time waking up the next day (unless it was a Friday or Saturday event).

Since most events are done during lunch time, I also missed out on a lot of opportunities to personally witness potential news to share on my blog. Sending over a representative is totally different since I prefer to experience the events on my own, and I tend to be less satisfied with the coverage done by others since I am too conscious about getting better videos and photos, plus the interviews not too many do at their coverage. Call me a perfectionist but I guess it's all because I just prefer to be on the field myself.

But my fellow blogger and co-founder of the Ready Set Blog event had something better in mind. She wanted me to talk as one of the speakers with a topic she believes I am capable enough to discuss.

Elevate Your Blog - as if I am already at the top of the blogging community. I may be getting a lot of invites to events and many other forms of collaborations and partnerships, but I believe I still have a lot to learn.

And from the list of bloggers attending the event, I asked "Do they really need to hear it from me?" Since many of them have already been blogging for a long time already.

The Book Museum Cum Ethnology Center: More Attractions and an All-Improved James Dean Cafe Await Visitors

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Here are the videos we made from our visit at the already huge complex located in Marikina city featuring Rex Bookstore owner Atty. Dominador Buhain's impressive collection of books and artifacts from his travels throughout the years at different countries.

They recently had an expansion which now also highlights equally stunning new collections and other facilities making the center a bigger and better educational destination. Their showcase of books and relics got a lot more bigger as it now features various collections of rock formations and head gears from all over the world.

If you're really into historical relics from all over the world, their wide and assorted collection will definitely amaze you. A must visit that won't disappoint your curiosity.

This is the second time we got invited at their place so instead of a full article, we thought we make it a series of videos instead featuring everything from the previous to the new ones, including a short interview with the owner himself (Now this is a big bonus since it was unplanned. We are grateful that Atty. Buhain granted our request for a video, and that is included as part of the video series).

Plus an all-improved café created in homage of James Dean and thus it is fitting to be called the James Dean Café, where we got to try some of their American dishes from burgers, to hotdogs, sandwiches and of course,  coffee (both hot and cold variety).

The only surprising images at this café is the characters from the Peter Pan fantasy series that adorned the bathroom. We learned that aside from James Dean, Peter Pan is also one of the favorite characters of the owner. You'll even see inside the bathroom a photo of him dressed up as Peter Pan.

True enough, the traveler cum collector cum businessman is still somewhat a child at heart for he still looks back and incorporates his childhood into his current undertakings. This is something commendable as most of us seems to lose the fun we had and become so serious when we grow up.

I would want to be doing almost the same things as what Atty. Buhain has done... not only collecting but also sharing his discoveries to others as part of his museum. He may have been busy operating a business selling books at Rex Bookstore, but he still finds fun time for himself.

I want to retire having the same luxury as the man. But for now I could only dream as not all of us are born that lucky.

Chicharrones de Pollo with Tostones from Poyo: Coming Soon at Robinsons Galleria

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We are excited to share to you another excellent food find.

Featuring for the first time is the Chicharrones de Pollo from Poyo

Wazzup Pilipinas recently joined the Pop-Up Menu Launch held at The Bottle Shop BGC to taste the dish for the first time before they set-up their actual store at Robinson's Galleria in Ortigas area.

The chicken delicacy is undoubtedly good with the Fuller's India Pale Ale beer, but the owner said they'll be serving their own kind of non-alcoholic drink at the actual store.

Maybe you've already seen our interview with Allan Locke earlier where he explains more about POYO World.

The Poyo chicken dish was available only that night at The Bottle Shop, BGC but who knows, maybe they'll consider having it permanently since it was a best-seller that night. The entire stock was gone in maybe just a couple of hours. I actually lost track of time while enjoying 8 pieces of the Chicaronnes de Pollo together with the Tostones. The dish comes with two choices of dips (a special secret sauce and the tomato salsa) but I think they'll be serving both.

The dish is very affordable at only P200 per order.