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Is SAF the answer to sustainable travel?


an aircraft jet engine coloured green to represent sustainable aviation fuel

Aviation's sustainability journey will pass a major landmark when the world’s first net-zero transatlantic flight takes place later this year.


Virgin Atlantic won the competition to receive government funding for the flight from London to New York’s JFK airport – the first using solely sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. By fully replacing kerosene, SAF can slash lifecycle carbon emissions by over 70% compared to conventional fossil jet fuel.


By using 100% SAF, combined with carbon removal through biochar credits – a material which traps and stores carbon taken from the atmosphere, the flight becomes net zero. SAF is now at the heart of aviation’s sustainability drive and could be worth £2.4 billion by 2040, supporting up to 5,200 UK jobs by 2035.[1]


The first commercial flights using SAF took off in 2011 but it wasn’t until June of last year that Swedish airline Braathens and SAF supplier Neste teamed up to enable the first ever 100% SAF-powered test flight on a commercial aircraft. [2]


What's driving the SAF boom?

As the biggest consumers, corporates around the globe have realised their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments mean they have to play a big part in decarbonising aviation sector. The ways they’re doing this are creative too.


PwC Netherlands says its employees now fly entirely on SAF, whilst KLM’s Corporate BioFuel Programme allows companies to pay a surcharge that covers the difference in price between SAF and traditional jet fuel. These surcharges were then used to purchase SAF for its commercial partners.


While in Australia, some companies are bulk buying SAF to reduce their carbon footprints, encouraging mass production of the cleaner energy that airlines need to meet their emissions targets.[3]


Airlines and fuel producers are offering corporate customers the opportunity to buy SAF not linked to individual flights, which is leading some to go beyond cheaper carbon compensation options like planting trees to reduce the environmental burden of flying. Qantas Airways recently announced that five companies will pay a premium to reduce their emissions by contributing to the cost of the airline using SAF.


What about business travellers?

Covid forced corporates to re-assess their attitudes towards flying, and although business travel, in general, is bouncing back, employers and travellers don’t seem to want to turn the clock back. But some old habits still die hard.[4]


According to a new industry survey, only 6% of travel managers say their company currently allows employees to spend more on sustainable travel options.[5] Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary claims only 1% of his passengers pay the €2 surcharge to offset their flight’s emissions.[6]


“There’s a big disconnect between passengers on a customer survey going: 'Oh yes, we want carbon offsetting, we want to do this,' and then ask them, will you voluntarily offset, and 99 percent kindly say: 'No thank you, we won’t do it,'" O’Leary told an industry conference. And he’s not alone.


According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the typical take-up for voluntary offsetting schemes is between 1-3% of airline customers. Marketers call it the ‘intention-behaviour gap.’ As humans, we intend to do the responsible thing by eating healthy, recycle and buy greener products, but there are so many factors that stop us doing so, including cost.


Cost is key

Cost is particularly pertinent here because SAF currently costs between two and eight times more than traditional fossil jet fuel. That's down to a combination of the current availability of sustainable feedstocks and the continuing development of new production technologies.


This matters because, as airlines feel more pressure to use SAF before its cost is the same as regular jet fuel – which isn’t going to happen in this decade[7] - they may pass some of the costs onto passengers, resulting in an increase in fares of up to 15%.[8]


It’s a sobering prospect, and one that isn’t sustainable for most organisations. So, what’s the solution? The long-term answer is for the business travel industry to pull in the same direction and truly collaborate if net-zero is to be achieved by 2050.


What we’re doing to support sustainable travel programmes

While SAF may still be taking off, as a travel and meetings management company, we provide a mix of tools and solutions to tackle the issue in a variety of ways before and after travel.


Pre-trip, our travel and meetings booking portals are designed to highlight sustainable suppliers so they can be easily identified and selected. Providing information is a key component of influencing traveller behaviour to support customer sustainability objectives.


Our data insights are a huge asset to our customers. We help organisations to shape and maintain a sustainable travel programme by providing data and identifying insights that highlight opportunities to be more sustainable. The insights are delivered to travel managers in their management information (MI), but travellers can also access data through their mobile app, so they can see their personalised insights, understand their own impact, and make their own adjustments.


Our partnership also make a difference. By working with a vast range of accommodation, venue, air, rail and ground transport providers, we’re able to offers travellers the hotel, meeting space and modes of transport that they need to reduce their environmental impact. Our partnership with Trees4Travel then offers customers a comprehensive, affordable, and tangible way to compensate their emissions through planting trees and high-quality investment into renewable energy projects.


 
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