Gallery: Industry Steps Up Sustainability Efforts

On the sidelines of the ICAO assembly in early October 2022, Singapore and ICAO signed an agreement for Singapore to provide and receive assistance, capacity-building and training (ACT) on SAF under the ICAO ACT-SAF program. Singapore is the fourth signatory of the ICAO ACT-SAF agreement after Brazil, the European Commission and Spain.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) began in-service on its ANA Green Jet, the special Boeing 787 developed to raise awareness and promote sustainable practices and reduce CO2 emissions. The new domestic-service aircraft entered service beginning with the Tokyo Haneda-San Francisco flight on Oct. 5, 2022. The ANA Green Jet features a special livery featuring the ANA Future Promise initiative, which began in 2021. A total of two aircraft with the special livery will enter service—the aircraft to fly on domestic routes will begin operating in November. 

Frontier Airlines unveiled its first ultra-fuel-efficient Airbus A321neo aircraft in a special green livery. The 240-seat A321neo, powered by Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines, will generate significantly lower carbon emissions as it delivers 120 miles per gallon per seat.

Italy’s ITA Airways painted a “Born to be Sustainable” livery on its new fuel-efficient A220-300. Six more of the type are expected to be in service by year-end. All A220s are on lease from Air Lease Corp.

Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific made its first-ever commercial passenger flight powered by SAF, making Cebu Pacific the first Philippines’ carrier to introduce SAF into its commercially scheduled operations. Produced by Neste and supplied by Shell Eastern Petroleum, the airline's Airbus A321neo was uplifted with 35% blended SAF in Singapore before it took off for Manila. In addition, Cebu Pacific is partnering with Shell Aviation to supply 25,000 tonnes of SAF to the LCC at airports across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The agreement will take effect in 2026, after which Shell will provide Cebu Pacific with 5,000 tonnes per year for five years through 2031. 
 

Singapore’s Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) signed a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA aimed at advancing sustainable aviation collaboration between the two countries. Four key areas are name-checked in the agreement: policy and regulation; industry development; future infrastructure planning and provision; and workforce transformation. The pact also envisages driving the research and development, test bedding and trial of SAFs, and also facilitating the development of secure sustainable fuels supply chains. The scale, costs and technical and commercial viabilities of developing “green lanes” between Singapore and the US will also be studied. Pictured, from left, Singaporean Transport Minister S Iswaran and U.S. Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
 

Etihad Cargo became the first Middle Eastern carrier to participate in The International Air Cargo Association's (TIACA) BlueSky program. Following the March 2022 launch announcement of the air cargo industry's first multi-sector sustainability verification program and pilot program, Etihad Cargo is one of the first participants to join the program's live operations. Other participants include organizations from airline, airport, ground handler, and general sales and service agents’ sectors.
 

New York-based JetBlue Airways signed multi-year deals for hundreds of millions of gallons of SAF for delivery beginning as early as 2023, but has now invested also in a startup promising to produce a carbon-negative fuel made from captured CO2. The US carrier has signed a letter of intent with New York-based Air Company to purchase 25 million gal. of SAF over five years beginning in 2027. The airline’s JetBlue Technology Ventures arm has meanwhile participated in the startup’s Series A fundraising round.
 

Eviation successfully conducted the first flight of the Alice all-electric commuter and cargo aircraft prototype from Moses Lake, Washington, on Sept. 27, marking a major milestone on the road toward the fielding of a new generation of sustainable air vehicles.

The 8-min. flight followed high-speed taxi tests on Sept. 17 when the aircraft reached a rotation speed of 113 kt. and came after Eviation received a permit to fly from the FAA earlier this month. Tests of the 16,500-lb. Alice, a nine-passenger aircraft designed to fly 440 nm on an 8,300-lb. battery pack, follow a long development period punctuated by technical challenges and a major redesign in the wake of a battery fire which destroyed the first prototype in 2020.
 

Universal Hydrogen (UH2) announced an agreement with Danish regional aircraft operator DAT A/S and Everfuel A/S, an energy production and distribution company also based in Denmark, to move toward enabling zero-emission flight using clean hydrogen by the end of 2025. The agreement is based on the production and logistics surrounding hydrogen fuel and the conversion of ATR 72-600 regional aircraft used on DAT routes in Denmark. The converted ATR 72s will carry 56 passengers. The longer-term goal is to convert all of DAT’s domestic flights to zero-emission by 2030. DAT A/S transports close to one million passengers per year within Denmark and destinations across Europe.
 

Italy’s Torino Airport has created a 100% green aircraft turnaround process, by implementing an electrically powered fleet and sustainable ground handling operations. As a result, the airport expects to achieve its net zero targets before its 2050 deadline, as well as fulfilling its Toulouse Declaration commitments.

Operated by ground services company Sagat Handling, the electric fleet available at Torino Airport includes baggage tractors; mobile generator ground power units (GPU); passenger ladders; baggage belts; lifting platform ambulifts; and towbarless aircraft tractors or pushbacks.
 

Dublin-headquartered lessor SMBC Aviation Capital invested $53.3 million in carbon credits to help airlines meet their CORSIA offset requirements. Announcing the investment on Sept. 20, SMBC said it is the first major lessor to introduce a carbon-credit program. Lessors act as a bridge between the airline and financing communities and sustainability is now high on their shared agenda. The SMBC credits will fund energy-efficient cookstoves for families in Africa, Asia and Central America, replacing open-fire cooking in rural communities. This will be done through two separate partnerships with Belgium-based CO2 Logic and US carbon-project developer C-Quest Capital.
 

Air Canada will pre-order 30 ES-30 aircraft to be built by Heart Aerospace and agreed to invest $5 million in the Swedish startup manufacturer. Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said the airline has committed to a fund of $50 million to invest in new technologies, “whether it’s carbon capture or aircraft technology.” Rousseau said the electric aircraft are well positioned to replace existing aircraft operated to smaller markets in Canada by the end of the decade. The planned service entry for the ES-30 is 2028. 
 

Ryanair and OMV, the international integrated oil, gas and chemicals company headquartered in Vienna, inked an MOU to supply SAF at Ryanair airports across Austria, Germany and Romania. While limited production of SAF remains a global aviation issue, this MOU gives Ryanair unique access to purchase up to 160,000 tonnes (53m gallons) of SAF from OMV over the next eight years, saving over 400,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions (equivalent to c.25,000 Ryanair flights from Dublin to Vienna). 
 

Miami-based Global Crossing Airlines Group (GlobalX) signed a letter of intent for 50 all-electric Eviation Alice aircraft as part of plans to introduce sustainable services for growing markets in Florida, the Bahamas and around the Caribbean. Passenger ACMI and charter carrier GlobalX, which also operates Airbus A320s, expects to take the first Alice in 2027. The airline is also evaluating the cargo version of the electric aircraft as part of a broader expansion into the ACMI freight market which is due to begin later this year with the introduction of the first of 15 leased A321Fs. 
 

Swedish startup Heart Aerospace has redesigned its planned electric regional airliner as a 30-seater, up from 19 seats, and secured minority investments from Air Canada and Saab. The Canadian carrier has also placed a pre-order for 30 of the aircraft, now called the ES-30. Service entry has been pushed back two years, to 2028, United Airlines and Mesa Air Group, which invested in Heart’s $35 million Series fundraising round in July 2021, have reconfirmed their pre-orders for a total of 200 aircraft and option for an another 100, now for the larger ES-30. 
 

Vienna-based oil, gas and chemicals company OMV signed an agreement with Lufthansa Group for more than 800,000 tons of SAF for the period 2023 to 2030. The companies intend to expand their existing partnership by adding new locations for SAF production and off-take, as well as new technologies. OMV has supplied SAF to Lufthansa Group subsidiary Austrian Airlines at Vienna International Airport since March 2022.