On the10th anniversary of the first flight of a blended-fuel jet, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has set an ambitious goal – 1 billion passengers on sustainable-fuel aircraft by 2025.
Sustainable fuels are a mix of traditional jet fuel and drop-in biofuels. Aircraft using this mix have the possibility of reducing carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent.
The airline industry has the goal of achieving carbon-neutral growth after 2020, and to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent from 2005.
Some airlines and airports have invested in sustainable fuels, but at the present rate of adoption, only 500 million passengers will have flown on sustainable fuel flights by 2025.
The IATA believes that if governments create fuel, transportation, and energy policies that assist sustainable fuel industry production, then the 1 billion passenger goal is reachable.
“The momentum for sustainable aviation fuels is now unstoppable,” Alexendre de Juniac, IATA director general and CEO, said. “From one flight in 2008, we passed the threshold of 100,000 flights in 2017, and we expect to hit 1 million flights during 2020. But that’s still just a drop in the ocean compared to what we want to achieve.”
The industry will never use truly sustainable, alternative fuels, de Juniac said.