Climate neutral aviation industry? It’s closer than you think

A group of companies from the travel industry joined forces this week to demonstrate that the perfect net zero flight is, in fact, possible.

Heathrow Airport, British Airways, Airbus, BP, Glasgow Airport and NATS collaborated on a flight between London and Glasgow to show how the aviation industry can be decarbonised.

Carried out by a A320neo, the British Airways flight was directly powered by a mixture of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supplied by BP and 35% of traditional aviation fuel. The remaining emissions of the flight were offset.

At Heathrow the airplane was pushed back using electrical Mototok vehicles powered by the airport’s renewable electricity supply, whereas the NATS air traffic controllers optimised the route and the flight level to avoid additional fuel consumption.

The participating companies stated that the flight’s carbon emissions were 62% lower than a comparable flight a decade ago.