Executive travel
The private jet industry has soared in popularity since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming earlier this year, it is unsurprising that the private aviation industry has increasingly come under fire. In July, Extinction Rebellion activists attempted to block entrances to Farnborough Airport in Hampshire – a small airfield primarily used for private flights – in protest against the high levels of CO2 by private flights per passenger.
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“We’ve seen the executive jet industry willing to go a little bit further, fleets are usually a bit smaller so it’s less cost-intensive.”
Kennedy Ricci 320%
The percentage increase in new memberships to private operator VistaJet in July 2020.
VistaJet 42
And with a number of public figures, including Prince Harry and Boris Johnson, widely criticised for travelling by private jet earlier this year, the overwhelming feeling appears to be that this is an unnecessary and unacceptable way to fly – especially when the rest of us are being pressured to do our bit to save the planet. So, is the industry doing enough to ensure operations are sustainable moving forward? “There has been a lot of interest [in sustainability] since the IPCC report came out,” says Kennedy Ricci, president of 4AIR, a company that provides sustainability ratings for aircraft operators. “There has always been interest on the operator level, but you can really pick up on the individuals and corporates who, after that report, want to make sure that they’re doing something.”
Although air travel is only responsible for less than 3% of global emissions, the sector is under growing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint as it continues to expand. That’s where companies like 4AIR come in: it offers a rating system to make it
easier for operators to implement sustainability goals and to educate flyers about how they can reduce their footprint.
“4AIR comes and looks at the sustainability efforts and provides a rating. We look at how far operators are going, whether they are rating everything and doing it in line with best practices, and whether they are actually following through with it,” Ricci explains. “We go a step further and will actually provide a programme for operators if they don’t have one.” 4AIR’s rating system is divided into four levels: bronze, which requires a 100% carbon offset; silver, which requires a 300% offset to comprehensively offset emissions; gold, a 5% direct emission reduction; and platinum, which requires a company to make a direct contribution to 4AIR’s non-profit Aviation Climate Fund based on its carbon footprint. According to Ricci, most operators are currently making progress in the second or third level – they are “willing to bring in some carbon offset initiatives or small amounts of sustainable fuel, but the fuel can still be expensive and difficult to find.” More broadly, the private aviation sector is leading the way when it comes to reducing its impact on the planet. “We’ve seen the executive jet industry willing to go a little bit further,” Ricci continues. “Fleets are usually a bit smaller so it’s less cost-intensive for them to implement some of these measures, and there are fewer people to convince.”
A case in point is NetJets, which this year was the first private aviation company to purchase Air BP’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The fuel is produced using waste-based sustainable feedstocks, such as used cooking oil and non-palm waste oils from plants or animals. This is then co-processed together with fossil fuels to create a low-carbon fuel. “Our purchase of Air BP’s SAF has been a huge success and is helping us to see a reduction in carbon emissions by 80% compared with standard aviation
Chief Executive Officer /
www.the-chiefexecutive.com
Fabian Gysel/
istockphoto.com
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