Virgin Atlantic and British Airways CEOs call for ‘radical collaboration’ between Government, aviation fuel providers and the wider industry to reach net zero by 2050 at the Sustainable Skies World Summit 2024.
A panel session with Julie Kitcher, Chief Sustainability Officerr at Airbus and Brain Moran, Chief Sustainability Officer at Boeing, Virgin Atlantic’s Shai Weiss and British Airways’ Sean Doyle discussed the positive steps made between the organisations and the increased investment in sustainable technology to reduce carbon emissions.
While progress is being made and the UK Government’s SAF mandate is welcome, the panel agreed that it’s not just the OEMs’ and airlines’ responsibility to drive change and more needs to be done by the government and the wider sustainable aviation fuel infrastructure to achieve the targets set.
Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said, “We agreed that radical collaboration is required for our industry to reach Net Zero by 2050 with a focus on the near-term, including fleet modernisation, wide adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), as well as longer term technological innovation including Hydrogen and electrification.
“Last week, Virgin Atlantic published much anticipated finding from Flight100 as an open resource to show the industry that SAF is a safe replacement for fossil fuels. Our position at Virgin Atlantic is clear - if enough SAF is made, we will fly it.”
Held 15-16 May at Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre, Sustainable Skies World Summit 2024 convened international aviation and aerospace market leaders, UK Government and global media to accelerate global standards and cultivate collaboration from all corners of the world.
On day one Anthony Browne MP, Minister for Aviation, Decarbonisation and the Future of Transport at the Department for Transport UK met with exhibitors at the show and held an industry roundtable to highlight the progress his department is making, and the Jet Zero Council held a working group meeting to discuss the efforts to deliver net zero and zero emission aviation through UK production of zero-emission flights and SAF.
The technology showcase displayed the latest developments in sustainable aviation technology, services and intelligence from the industry including British Airways, GKN Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, Embraer, WheelTug, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, Nebo Air, Aerospace Technology Institute, Reaction Engines, and UK Civil Aviation Authority.
During the event, Haffner Energy announced Paris-Vatry SAF, a new Sustainable Aviation Fuel production project designed to meet the exponential demand for the decarbonization of air transport. The biofuel will be produced using Haffner Energy's patented technological process, via the thermolysis of local biomass residues.
ABOVE: Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, Shai Weiss CEO of Virgin Atlantic, Julie Kitcher Chief Sustainability Officer of Airbus and Brian Moran Chief Sustainability Officer of Boeing.
farnboroughinternational.org/aerospace/sustainable-skies-world-summit-2024