European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is targeting a 50 per cent reduction in aircraft fuel consumption by 2020.

Airbus vice-president, environmental affairs, Philippe de Saint-Aulaire, said the manufacturer was looking at airframe improvements to provide about 25 per cent of the reduction, while between 10 and 15 per cent would come from engine manufacturers.

"The remainder, about 10 per cent, will come from air traffic control - to ensure there are more direct flights, to ensure that aircraft are not (circling) around the airport before they land," he said.

The Airbus environmental boss expects airframe improvements to come from weight reduction with the greater use of composites, aerodynamic improvements, and new systems that would allow the aircraft to operate more efficiently.

These new systems included ways of allowing aircraft to land on a glide slope of 5 degrees rather than the conventional 3 degrees, reducing noise pollution.

Asked whether there was much room to improve the aerodynamics of conventional aircraft, he said Airbus had several projects under way.

"There is one where we are working on the aerodynamics of the wings by integrating the control surfaces, for instance, working on the laminal flow and things like that," he said. "So I think there are still things to do."

The Airbus expert said it was now certain that carbon dioxide was contributing to climate change and the aviation industry contributed about 2 per cent of the total.

But he cautioned that not everybody saw emissions as the biggest problem.

"That's one of our difficulties," Mr de Saint-Aulaire said.

"We are a global industry where in some regions the most important point is noise and in others it is emissions - the local emissions - and in others it is the climate change."

He said reducing weight was good for both pollution and noise, but other solutions might be good for noise but not for emissions - and vice versa.

"If you increase the size of the fan, normally you improve the noise but you're also increasing the drag and you increase the weight," he said.

"By doing that you are accentuating the fuel consumption patterns."

And in terms of which plane was the best for the environment, the Airbus executive said he believed the flagship today was the A380.

"It's wonderful for the environment, only 3 litres per passenger over 100km," he said.

"In terms of noise, the noise footprint of the A380 will be at the same level as an A340 but it's transporting double the number of passengers."