To mark Earth Month, Air Canada announced that its ground operations in Québec City will be the airline’s first station in Canada to achieve 100% electrification of its GSE fleet across all main categories by the end of 2025.
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The new eGSEs are designed to reduce direct emissions compared to internal combustion engine GSEs. They are expected to lower maintenance and spare part costs, and eliminate direct fuel costs, contributing to overall cost savings for Air Canada.
This milestone will represent a complete transition from fossil fuel-powered equipment to electric alternatives for all baggage and ramp tractors, belt loaders, power stows, container loaders and aircraft tractors. This transition will eliminate Air Canada’s use of fossil fuel equipment in these key GSE categories at this station.
This is a step forward toward achieving Air Canada’s climate-related ambition that sets out mid-term targets in support of its long-term aspirational goal of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. Those mid-term targets are 20% GHG net reductions from its air operations and 30% GHG net reductions from its ground operations, both compared to a 2019 baseline, by 2030.
Over the last several years, Air Canada has been progressively retiring and replacing older fossil-fuel powered ground equipment across Canada with more efficient electric ground equipment. The airline now has more than 900 pieces of eGSE equipment, representing 35% of the GSE fleet across all categories. Air Canada’s ground fleet includes proven electric alternatives that support operational efficiency and emissions reductions. While some operations still require fossil-fuel powered equipment, Air Canada continues to work closely with the manufacturers to evaluate emerging technologies that come to market.