Virgin Atlantic has made no secret of its ambition to push the aviation sector towards a sustainable future, having made history in November with the first commercial flight to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) across the Atlantic.
The flight, taking off from London Heathrow and travelling across the pond to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, marked the culmination of a year of collaboration as the airline demonstrated that SAF can replace existing jet fuel resulting in up to a 70% reduction on lifecycle CO2 emissions and moving the sector towards a greener future.
However, the primary challenge lies in the availability of SAF as without an adequate supply, other considerations become secondary. To address this, it’s critical to incentivise production and ensure ample availability.
“From an air cargo perspective, embracing SAF is not an issue as we have lots of interest from our customers and we’ve already sold all of the SAF we’ve procured, so adoption is not the issue. Availability is the real challenge,” Phil Wardlaw, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said.
“Our line is ‘If you make it, we will fly it.’ But it’s absolutely true. We have enough customers that want to buy it. Selling it is not a problem. We just can’t get enough SAF to sell.”
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Step in the right direction
With the logistics and airfreight industry committed to being net zero, and electric and hydrogen solutions decades away from being a reality, SAF currently presents the easiest and most available solution to cut carbon output, even if it is not perfect.
“SAF isn’t the ultimate answer but it’s the answer we have now,” he asserted. “Our fleet transformation is critical and all airlines need to be on that journey but, if they’re going to reduce emissions, SAF is the next part of the jigsaw.
“What we did in November with Flight100 was prove that SAF can be used in everyday operations, but we now need the regulators and governments to step up and boost the availability of sustainable options.
“Hydrogen and electric are the long-term goal. That’s where we need to be. But in terms of the tools we have here to meet reduction targets, SAF will get us to that place.”
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Beyond SAF
Cutting carbon emissions is more than swapping jet fuel for SAF, it involves actively addressing sustainability concerns on multiple fronts. With that in mind, Virgin Atlantic Cargo is focusing on initiatives, such as cutting down plastic wrapping.
Mindful of the environmental impact of their fuel consumption, efforts are also underway to reduce the weight of cargo pallets and improve fuel efficiency in operations.
Furthermore, Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s commitment to greener operations extends to its home base at Heathrow, which boasts a high sustainability rating.
“Our hub is up there with the best when it comes to recycling, solar panels, etc. Making sure that our home is as sustainable as possible is something which we’re really proud of,” Wardlaw stated.
