SkyTeam expands environmental initiative with The Aviation Challenge
SkyTeam has announced a significant evolution in its environmental initiative by renaming The Sustainable Flight Challenge to The Aviation Challenge, signalling its broader vision to drive meaningful change across the airline industry.
This year marks a significant expansion of the programme, as SkyTeam has invited non-SkyTeam airlines to participate for the first time, reflecting the alliance’s commitment to fostering industry-wide innovation.
The Aviation Challenge, now in its third year, brings together 24 global airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, Air France, China Airlines and SAS.
The airlines share a common goal: to discover and implement innovative ideas that can reduce the environmental impact of air travel. This expansion highlights SkyTeam’s determination to create a collective movement towards sustainability in aviation, with participants aiming to scale up and implement solutions that have been generated in previous challenges.
Patrick Roux, SkyTeam CEO, commented on the initiative’s broader scope:
By scaling up and implementing solutions generated in previous years and widening its scope, we expect The Aviation Challenge to realise increased potential to reduce flying’s environmental impact, helping participants to further their own sustainability goals. While we await greater production of SAF and the future technology our industry needs, The Aviation Challenge is bringing together global airlines and stakeholders from across aviation in a proactive stance to help address the environmental impact of flying.
Since its inception in 2022, the challenge has inspired participating airlines to generate 465 innovative solutions aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. These solutions span various aspects of airline operations, including the increased use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), flight path optimisation, waste reduction and improved cargo handling.
Unlike its predecessors, this year’s challenge focuses on the practical implementation and scaling of these solutions, with airlines demonstrating their effectiveness through showcase flights. Virgin Atlantic, for example, will highlight key learnings from its Flight100, the first flight powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel.
The Aviation Challenge’s impact will be assessed by a diverse panel of global sustainability and aviation experts. These experts will evaluate the submissions based on their effectiveness and scalability, with criteria developed in collaboration with leading aerospace professionals, including PA Consulting and the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR).
The 72 flights operated as part of last year’s challenge saw an average improvement of 19% in CO2 intensity, resulting in the elimination of 30 tons of emissions. These impressive results underscore the potential of The Aviation Challenge to drive significant environmental improvements across the industry.
The airlines participating in The Aviation Challenge 2024 include Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air Europa Express, Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Corendon Dutch Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Endeavor Air, Garuda Indonesia, JamboJet, Kenya Airways, KLM, KLM Cityhopper, Korean Air, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Saudia, Shanghai Airlines, TAROM, TUI Airline, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and XiamenAir.
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