- CEOs from the aviation industry have called on the Prime Minister to seize the chance for the UK to lead the world in delivering net zero flight in support of a green recovery.
- The call is made as Government prepares to publish a 10-point plan to boost green jobs and reach net-zero.
- Aviation leaders have called for support in three areas critical to net-zero flight: the delivery of a UK sustainable aviation fuels industry; making ground-breaking electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered aircraft a reality through support for the Aerospace Technology Institute; and the completion of vital airspace modernisation.
Leaders from across the UK’s Sustainable Aviation coalition have written to the Prime Minister to reaffirm the industry’s commitment to achieving net-zero by 2050, and to urge a strengthened partnership between Government and the aviation sector to achieve the goal of making zero-emissions flight possible.
As the UK’s aviation industry continues to face the greatest crisis in its history resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the letter highlights the once in a generation chance for the UK to seize the opportunity to lead the world in delivering net zero flight whilst enabling UK aviation to benefit from and support the UK’s economic recovery, through the high skilled jobs, supply-chain and export benefits that investment now in new green aviation technology will bring.
To deliver upon aviation’s net-zero commitment, CEOs have urged support for the emergence of a domestic UK sustainable aviation fuels industry, through targeted loan guarantees and the provision of capital grants that will be critical to delivering first-of-a-kind fuel plants – the foundation for up to 14 UK plants generating sustainable fuel from household and industrial waste by the middle 2030s.
A UK sustainable aviation fuels industry, based around seven clusters at Teesside, Humberside, the North West of England, South Wales, Southampton, St Fergus and Grangemouth, could help level-up the UK by delivering around £3 billion in GVA and 20,200 jobs by the middle 2030s, with UK production saving 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 annually – an essential contributor to UK aviation reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and supporting post-COVID UK recovery. Sustainable fuels will play the major part in decarbonising long-haul travel.
The PM is also urged to support development of the ground-breaking electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered aircraft which have the potential to revolutionise regional and short-haul travel, through increasing support for technological innovation through the Aerospace Technology Institute, and to maintain the UK’s commitment to delivering vital airspace modernisation, a critical next step on the path to net-zero that will eliminate inefficiencies, shorten journey times and reduce carbon emissions.
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Notes to editors
The letter to the Prime Minister can be read in full here.
Contact information:
Sustainable.Aviation@fieldconsulting.co.uk or 0203 953 6664
About Sustainable Aviation:
Sustainable Aviation is the coalition of UK airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers and air navigation service providers committed to cutting aviation’s environmental impact and building a world-leading aviation sector.
More information on Sustainable Aviation can be found on their website.
To read Sustainable Aviation’s recent CSR submission, please click here.
About SAF
Sustainable Aviation Fuels are produced from a range of feedstocks, from municipal waste to ethanol, and have carbon savings of up to 70% compared with fossil fuels.
Out of all available solutions to decarbonising aviation, SAF is market-ready and requires no modifications to existing aircraft or refuelling infrastructure, and will remain an enduring low carbon solution for medium and long-haul flight.
For more information on Sustainable Aviation Fuels, see the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Road-Map here