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Carbon Neutral Air Travel: AirGO provides first SAF Book & Claim Scheme for Business Aviation

Carbon Neutral Air Travel is a central issue that requires the aviation industry to take immediate actions. Worldwide, the aviation industry accounts for 2,4% of all human-induced carbon dioxide emissions. Business aviation operations contribute 0,04% to all man-made emissions.

While on a global scale these numbers seem to be comparatively low, we are aware of the impact the CO2emissions have on the environment. It is the responsibility of the whole industry to work on technological solutions to protect the climate and environment.

At AirGO we were among the first ones to allow our clients to fly CO2 neutral. Also, we inform our clients proactively and transparently about the emissions of their flights and offer different options of immediate CO2 neutral travel or Carbon Offset.

More sustainable supply is one key aspect, but so is the demand. The customer has the power to choose the CO2 neutral option and not only protect the climate, but also to promote future technological progress. Business aviation has the potential to be a pioneer in this field backed by its private and corporate end clients. Eventually, with increasing awareness, these new sustainable options will become more spread and the price difference between traditional and CO2 neutral products will decrease. The positive development can spill over to other areas and industries.

At AirGO, driven by our mission to offer private jet flight solutions without a negative CO2 footprint, we launched our Offset program Compensaid by AirGO beginning of 2020. As the first business jet operator in the market AirGO made it possible to offset flights with immediate effect by choosing SAF (Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuel) on book and claim basis. This was made possible by AirGO’s cooperation with Lufthansa Innovation Hub, the Technology platform of Europe’s largest Airline Group.

 

CO2 neutral private jet travel – how does it work?

Compensaid is one of the leading providers with a flexible product. The program gives our customers full flexibility about how they want to compensate for the CO2 emission of their flights. Clients can either decide on SAF, which is the fastest way to offset a flight or to make up for the CO2 emissions through reforestation, which is a longer-term mode of compensation. Also, a combination of methods is possible depending on personal preferences. Compensaid by AirGO gives control and transparency to support a preferred compensation method, to choose at what price and how fast to offset the carbon emissions.

CO2 neutral private flights are just a few clicks away

One benefit of AirGO’s cooperation with Compensaid, a market leading-platform, is that it provides a seamless and comprehensive product. Travellers can simply create one account and choose to book & claim Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for their private jet flights and flights with commercial carriers on the same platform. An effortless solution like this is unique to Compensaid by AirGO.

The benefits of the Book & Claim mechanism

Investing in SAF makes it possible to fly CO2 neutral with immediate effect. SAF is extracted from resources like preexisting waste materials which captured CO2 during their previous useful life.

While its availability is increasing today, accessibility is still limited. Also, the price is significantly higher than the price of fossil fuel. That is mainly due to the lack of commercial-scale investment, low economies of scale and currently missing infrastructures. Currently, the interest in SAF is raising as the aviation industry understands that SAF is the only fast solution for reducing the CO2 footprint of air travel.

Here the book & claim mechanism comes into play. The system is known already for renewable energy. Renewable energy is bought by an end customer; however, it’s not received and consumed by this buyer. Instead, the equivalent amount of renewable energy is fed into a system and accounted for at the point of entry on the network (the “book”). Even though the customer did not use that recourse directly, the equivalent of the sustainable resource was used.

The bottom line is, for CO2 emissions it doesn’t matter where in the network the consumption of the resource takes place, as long as the investment causes the sustainable resource to be brought to the network (“the claim”).

In detail, for private airlines it is impossible to fuel the own aircraft with SAF at just any airport. Even larger commercial carriers flying to much fewer remote airports get that special fuel only at selected airports. That is due to the still low level of progress and costs of setting up the necessary infrastructure.

Compensaid by AirGO makes it possible for the customer to choose SAF. The exact amount of fuel that is burned on a private jet flight is purchased by Lufthansa and used on one of the commercial flights in their network, replacing conventional fuel. Leading to the same overall impact on the CO2 balance as if the customer flies a private jet fueled with SAF.

Furthermore, an investment in SAF has the side effect of promoting economies of scale. As a result, technological development and the extension of infrastructure are moved forward. So, once SAF gets the awareness and demand from travelers, it would be able to compete with conventional fuel, but without a negative impact on CO2 emissions. The customers creating the demand for SAF are a decisive factor for the development of this sustainable option. If more passengers start choosing it, then the production will scale up faster and accessibility will improve.

Business aviation has a network of clients with a high willingness to pay for aviation services. Therefore, the choice is a matter of awareness and not primarily driven by costs. Also, many corporate clients already align the core business of their organization towards sustainability and fairness. Successful companies increasingly shift their focus from pure profit and market shares towards long-term goals covering environmental protection. Today, by flying private and investing in SAF, it is no longer necessary to compromise on efficient, flexible and comfortable travel and sustainability.

Private jet customers can be the early adopters choosing CO2-neutral flights. This conscious purchase decision will positively impact the supply and also transfer onto other new clients.

Learn more or compensate a flight: https://airgo.de/carbon-neutral-private-flight/

AirGO is a boutique airline offering on-demand flights, aircraft ownership and management solutions. AirGO entered the private charter market almost 20 years ago and was the first one to offer aircraft management for the Piaggio Avanti, the most efficient and stylish aircraft in its class.

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