Flying high: aviation is operating at pre-pandemic levels but is hampered by the lack of resources. Photo Credit: Adobe stock/Epic Photos
The aviation industry needs to improve the way it reports on
sustainability developments and create a way to measure efforts
collectively, if it is to meet 2050 net zero targets set out by the
International Air Transport Association (IATA). This was one of the
views shared from a recent webinar hosted by OAG, which provides digital
flight information, intelligence and analytics for airports, airlines
and travel tech companies.
The webinar panel debated assumptions linked to carbon net zero
targets, whether sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can fulfil its promise
in terms of supply and demand and whether the industry is relying on
regulatory frameworks to compel action or whether it is motivated by
other factors.
Deirdre Fulton, partner at aviation consultancy Midas Aviation said
that while there has been a growing realisation from the industry about
the importance of sustainability, much still needs to be done.
Measuring challenges
“The challenge is going to be to report on progress against [net zero
targets] and actually demonstrate how you measure the adoption of these
- how do you bring together all of that work that is being done at an
individual level by airlines and make sense of that in a joined up way
across the industry?,” she said. “Could we be in a position by 2026 to
say we're on target to meet the next step or the step after that?”
Fulton added that investment is needed in the industry, whether it is
investment in infrastructure, or investment in more efficient ways of
doing things.
IATA has published five net zero roadmaps and the areas they
contribute to, which it believes are necessary to bring about
sustainable aviation by 2050. Areas include reducing in-flight energy
use, changing fuel and recapturing emitted levels of CO2.
Long term thinking
Participants agreed that if all the right investments are done today,
then the industry can reach its target of net zero by 2050. The panel
discussed how the task is harder for aviation than every other industry,
but pointed out that the slower the industry is while other sectors
decarbonise, the more it will appear that aviation is the culprit as a
growing proportion of emissions will be due to aviation.
Kit Aspen, co-founder of Thrust Carbon, which builds technology that
enables companies to offer green products reiterated that significant
efforts are required. “There needs to be a lot of money spent today and
that's not happening,” he said. “If you want an industry around
hydrogen, you need to build large-scale facilities and the timespan for
this is in the decades. So money has to be put down today to make that
happen, and that's aside from the technological challenges that still
haven't been solved with some of these things.”
Recovery hampered by lack of resources
The panel also charted the recovery of the aviation industry and
observed that it is now operating at levels seen in 2019, pre-pandemic,
with European and Asian markets performing strongly.
John Grant, OAG’s chief analyst said: “Australia is going well and we
are beginning to see an increase in Chinese international travel,
although traffic between China and North America is virtually zero.
Chinese carriers are flying but their fares are very expensive.”
A lack of resources, however, continues to hamper the industry, with
Grant saying it is not just about the number of pilots and security
staff available, but a whole ecosystem of people involved in travel.