Corporate SAF scheme introduced by Virgin Atlantic

A sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) programme for Virgin Atlantic’s corporate customers is being introduced to help them manage their emissions.   

It aligns the UK carrier with joint venture partners, Delta Air Lines, Air France and KLM. 

The move underpins a continued focus on sustainability across the four airlines.

The new scheme has been specifically designed with the airline’s corporate customers in mind. It allows them to improve their insight into their emissions through CO2 methodology, helping them understand the true impact of their flights.  

Customers will have the opportunity to use the information to contribute to their CO2 emissions report and enable the industry to build momentum towards SAF contributions and scale up production across the UK, Europe and the US, according to rather carrier.

The programme is available to corporate customers or any size of location, across all four partner airlines.

Delta, Air France and KLM have already secured significant SAF funding from supportive customers throughout the US and Europe.

Virgin Atlantic’s enrolment in the wider scheme will provide the airline with the ability to offer SAF within the UK from its Heathrow hub.

Its first UK SAF supply was announced in February with the arrival of 2.5 million litres into the airport. The supply is a step towards the airline’s target of 10% SAF by 2030.

Virgin Atlantic head of UK and Europe sales Tom Maynard said: “I’m proud that Virgin Atlantic, along with our partners, Delta, Air France and KLM are the first joint venture to offer a corporate sustainable aviation fuel programme, which underpins the importance of sustainability for all four airlines. 

“We know we are not the only industry with ambitious targets and that’s why our scheme has been designed with our corporate customers at its core. 

“Our goal is to assist them in meeting their sustainability targets by enabling them to easily understand their emissions and support future SAF contributions.”

He added: “We already have one of the youngest and most fuel efficient fleets in the sky, but after this, SAF represents the greatest opportunity for Virgin Atlantic to decarbonise in the short to medium term, but we still require cross industry and government action to support commercialisation of SAF at scale, particularly in the UK.

“Our fuel programme will help us as we continue to work closely with our sustainability partners, as well as our joint venture colleagues, to find innovative solutions to achieve this goal.”