At the start of May, HAECO Hong Kong began to offer a ‘dry wash’ service to scheduled customer, Cathay Pacific; the airline has since switched its entire passenger and freighter fleet from wet to dry washing. Using biodegradable, non-toxic and non-flammable chemicals, the dry wash process removes dirt – including oil, carbon, insects etc – from the aircraft exterior with minimal water usage. While a standard aircraft wash might use up to 8,000 litres of water, a dry wash will reduce this amount by 90%. The chemicals used are also more effective cleaning agents, which means fewer washes per year for the Cathay Pacific fleet. Moreover, it requires a shorter tow to take the aircraft to the bays used for dry washes and therefore less fuel is used. HAECO sees the dry wash as a ‘multiple win’ for its service offering – reduced carbon footprint and water use, more efficient aircraft rotation and increased revenue for the customer – and one more step on the journey towards carbon neutrality within the aviation sector.