New Delhi: Soon, you will be served tea in sturdy paper cups and chips in butter paper packets in Air India flights as the national carrier has decided to go plastic-free from October 2. In a bid to cut down the usage of single-use plastic in its flights, the national carrier has decided to replace all cutlery and packaging in plastic with steel, wood and paper.
“We are banning single-use plastic from October 2,” Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani said on Thursday. He explained that some Air India flights have already stopped using plastic but a few would continue to use them for some time due to operational issues.
In the first phase, the replacement will be implemented in Air India Express and Alliance Air flights — subsidiaries of Air India — while the second phase will be implemented in all Air India flights — both domestic and international.
For instance, the plastic pouches in which banana chips and sandwiches are presently packed will be changed to butter paper pouches. Cake slices will also be replaced with muffins to avoid the present plastic wrapping. For special meals that are ordered and paid by passengers in advance, the airlines will use eco-friendly birch wood cutlery in place of plastic. The crew meal cutlery will be replaced with lightweight steel cutlery and plastic tumblers and teacups will be replaced with sturdy paper tumblers and cups.
Besides, the plastic usage will also go down in water bottles. At present Air India provides 200 ml water bottles to the passengers but the airlines now plans to replace these with 1,500 ml water bottles to reduce single-use plastic consumption and those needing lesser amounts of water will be served in glasses.
This Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made an appeal to the people of India to shun plastic and use eco-friendly alternatives. Following this, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had directed the airports to stop using plastic. Some airports and private airlines have also joined the campaign.
