Most airlines spend years working toward a younger, cleaner fleet. JetSMART decided to build one from the start.
Every airline efficiency story I come across follows the same pattern. An older fleet is phased out. Routes are restructured. A fuel programme nudges the numbers in the right direction, year by year.
JetSMART does not have a story like that. The airline launched in Chile in July 2017 with leased A320ceo aircraft, but within months had committed to something different. In November 2017, as part of the Indigo Partners order with Airbus, JetSMART placed orders for 56 A320neo and 14 A321neo aircraft. The first NEO entered service in October 2019. By 2025, the fleet had a weighted average age of 3.1 years, one of the youngest in the world for an airline of this size. When Cirium’s EmeraldSky data records JetSMART at 57.95 grams of CO₂ per available seat kilometre in 2025, it is measuring what that early commitment actually produced.
What caught my attention in the 2025 results is not the number. It is what sits alongside it. JetSMART’s operations grew by more than 32 percent in the period covered by the 2025 Review. Its CO₂ per ASK rose by 0.8 percent. That is what made me look more carefully. (....)