Finnair has pledged “to banish carbon” from its operations in what the airline claims is “the most ambitious sustainability strategy in the aviation industry”.

Nordic carrier Finnair announced its aim to cut net carbon emissions by 50% in just over five years, or from the level of last year by the end of 2025, and to be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2045.

Announcing the initiative Finnair said its plans “clearly exceed the industry’s targets”.

The carrier has already announced a near €4 billion investment in new aircraft by 2025 which should reduce its emissions on short-haul flights by 10%-15%.

Chief executive Topi Manner said: “Our number-one goal is to reduce our CO2 emissions by investing in new aircraft.”

A series of additional measures will see Finnair end in-flight retail sales on EU flights to reduce the weight on aircraft by 50-100 kg per flight.

The ban on inflight sales will start on April 29 and save 70,000 kg of fuel per year or 220,000 kg in CO2 emissions.

The carrier will pay to offset the CO2 emissions of corporate customers from September 1 this year and introduced new ticket types “to encourage customers to make sustainable choices”.

Finnair also unveiled a partnership with Finland-based Neste, a producer of sustainable aviation fuel from waste.

Manner said: “By the end of 2025 we expect to spend €10 million annually on sustainable aviation fuels.

“Achieving concrete CO2 reductions is key to solving the CO2 challenge of aviation.”

In addition, Finnair announced measures to half food waste on flights and half its use of single-use plastics by 2022.