Airline companies are multiplying efforts to reduce emissions to net-zero by 2050. As a result, passengers brace themselves as rising ticket fares are predicted for the near future. 

On the occasion of a recent annual media briefing, the director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – which includes the majority of the world’s largest airlines – Willie Walsh,  encouraged swifter action in Europe to drive up scarce production of greener sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

“You cannot expect an industry making on average $1 profit per customer to absorb the increases we’ve seen […] Going forward, as we see increases in carbon costs […], there has to be an impact on ticket prices as the industry transitions to net-zero. The airlines cannot absorb increased costs,” – Walsh explained, as quoted by The Guardian. 

IATA announced that global airlines were expected to make combined profits of $4.7bn (£3.9bn) in 2023. The argument provided by environmentalist organisations in this regard is that higher prices for air travel will lead to lowering emissions by curbing traffic growth. 

The Guardian reports that carriers in the UK have been scrambling to secure long-term supplies to meet a 2030 target to use 10% SAF in their fuel mix. On 6 December,  Virgin Atlantic announced it had signed a deal via its partner Delta for the purchase of 10 million gallons of SAF from the US. 

In early December, Ryanair announced its willingness to build up SAF supplies around Europe together with Shell in Dublin and London Stansted among others. Back in July, the European Parliament backed a new set of rules on aviation fuel that implemented binding targets for the replacement of kerosene with less polluting sources while also extending the definition of a “green fuel”.

The airline sector is widely viewed as one of the most difficult ones regarding decarbonisation, given that fuel for flights can’t be replaced with other kinds of power so easily. 

Image: Unsplash

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen