Japan Airlines has launched a pioneering way to reduce its carbon emissions. The airline has teamed up with one of Japan’s largest corporations, Sumitomo, to offer a clothing rental service for visitors to the country. The logic behind the aptly named Any Wear, Anywhere service is to encourage passengers to pack lighter, therefore reducing the airline’s fuel consumption and the associated carbon emissions.
Any Wear, Anywhere – how does it work?
From today, passengers will be able to use the Any Wear, Anywhere website to pre-book the rental service. By providing their flight information, clothing size, length of stay, and season at least one month in advance, the clothes will be sent directly to the passenger’s accommodation ready for their arrival in the country.
Rentals cost between ¥4,000 ($28) and ¥7,000 ($48), depending on the number of items, with visitors able to rent up to eight outfits for as long as two weeks. As well as the online reservation system, Sumitomo also oversees the procurement, laundry, and delivery of the clothes, in partnership with the dry cleaning company Hakuyosha and clothing provider Wefabrik.
The trial will initially be limited to visitors arriving in the country on Japan Airlines flights until August 2024. However, if the service proves to be a success, Sumitomo may look at rolling it out to other oneworld carriers too. Among the oneworld members currently flying to Japan are American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Malaysia Airlines.
Japan Airlines’ journey to sustainability
As part of its Vision 2030 program, Japan Airlines is hoping to expand its use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). However, with supplies currently limited, the carrier is looking at other ways it can reduce its carbon footprint.
While removing a few items of clothing from an aircraft may not sound like much, even small amounts of weight can make a difference over long distances. According to Japan Airlines, every kilogram of weight taken out of a flight between Tokyo (HND) and New York (JFK) reduces the aircraft’s carbon emissions by 0.75 kg.
Also, when carried out at scale, the initiative could prove to be very effective. According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, 1.9 million foreign travelers visited Japan in May 2023, reaching almost 70% of the levels seen pre-pandemic. This influx in foreign visitors, aided by the full reopening of the country’s borders, could provide enough users of the Any Wear, Anywhere scheme for it to make a significant positive impact.
In addition to reducing aircraft carbon emissions, Sumitomo hopes that the scheme will help to cut down on clothing waste too, tackling the problem of so-called fast fashion.
Source : Simple Flying
