- Heathrow will become the first UK airport to offer passengers the chance to offset carbon emissions by directly purchasing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for flights from 25th October
- New partnership with global climate-tech company CHOOOSE and an augmented reality “Sustainability Showcase” in Terminal 5 aim to increase passenger awareness and use of SAF as the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow gets underway
- Comes as UK Government announces ambition of at least 10% SAF usage by 2030
Passengers travelling through Heathrow can now help to offset their flight’s carbon emissions by purchasing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAFs have been proven to reduce carbon emissions from flying by as much as 70% compared to conventional jet fuel and will play a key role helping the aviation sector to decarbonise over the coming decade. Heathrow will be the first airport in the UK to offer passengers this opportunity. The announcement comes as the airport unveiled an augmented reality “Sustainability Showcase” in Terminal 5, designed to give passengers the chance to explore new technologies first-hand, stimulating discussion around investment in the technology that can help reduce carbon emissions.
The voluntary online offsetting platform is powered by climate-tech company CHOOOSE and SAF is provided by Sky NRG. The platform will enable passengers to calculate and offset their emissions, regardless of their airline or end destination. Travellers will select the percentage of emissions they’d like to offset with SAF, with any remaining emissions offset by certified global reforestation projects. Today, SAF is expensive, but by selecting even a small percentage of SAF in offsetting their flights, passengers can help show there’s demand for this essential climate solution.
With future advancements in aircraft technology like electric or hydrogen-powered flight still some way from commercial implementation, SAF is key to unlocking material reductions in carbon emissions from flying today. Currently, over 60% of Heathrow’s airline partners, by capacity, are committed to turning at least 10% of their fuel supply into SAF by 2030.
The main blockers for SAF usage currently are the high cost and limited production volumes. To tackle this, in addition to voluntary consumer demand, new policy is essential. The UK Government’s announcement last week, in which they declared its ambition to implement a mandate for at least 10% SAF usage by 2030, sends a positive signal to private investors that a growing market for SAF is on the horizon. To bring down costs and trigger investment in scaled-up production, the mandate needs to be complemented with a ‘price support’ policy.
This follows positive news from the global airline association IATA that all member airlines have committed to net zero by 2050. Heathrow will continue to support the UK Government in its efforts to secure a global agreement for net zero aviation at ICAO next year, ensuring aviation cuts its carbon emissions whilst protecting the benefits of flying for future generations.
To bring aviation’s net zero plans to life, Heathrow is also set to open its Augmented Reality ‘Sustainability Showcase’ ahead of COP26. The immersive experience gives passengers a behind the scenes look into the future of green flying and shows how the UK can become a leading force in the production and use of SAFs. Passengers can take a closer look at what the airport is doing to combat carbon, such as running all the airport’s infrastructure on 100% renewable electricity, with the option to purchase SAF on the spot with the new CHOOOSE platform.
Director of Carbon Strategy, Matt Gorman said: “We have a real sense of momentum behind reducing carbon emissions from flying – with airlines, airports, fuel companies, airlines, investors and Governments all coming together to tackle the problem. We’re delighted that from today Heathrow passengers will be able to offset their flights by purchasing SAF with our partner CHOOOSE – the more people who talk about and use SAF, the faster we’ll be able to scale-up production and cut carbon emissions from flying for good.”
ENDS
To offset their emissions with CHOOOSE, passengers can visit https://heathrow.chooose.today/
About Heathrow
Heathrow is the UK’s only hub airport and one of the world’s top international aviation hubs. The airport is Britain’s largest cargo port, helping to drive British trade growth and assisting the country in the fight against COVID-19. Heathrow’s aim is to provide passengers with the best airport service in the world, and we’re delighted to have been voted one of the world’s top ten airports in the 2021 Skytrax Awards. Heathrow has been awarded the “Best Airport in Western Europe” for the sixth year, and became the only UK airport to win the COVID-19 Airport Excellence Award in recognition of the airport’s efforts to keep our passengers and colleagues safe during the pandemic. Heathrow has passed the CAA's COVID-19 Security Assurance Scheme and has secured the Airport Health Accreditation from Airports Council International.
About CHOOOSE
CHOOOSE™ is a climate and technology company based in Oslo, Norway. CHOOOSE builds digital tools so everyone, anywhere, can easily integrate climate action into everyday life and business. Together with its ecosystem of industry partners and individual supporters, the CHOOOSE platform is accelerating access and adoption of climate solutions across a range of key technologies – from nature-based solutions to carbon removal to Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Learn more at www.chooose.today
