American Express Global Business Travel is among the new companies to join the United Airlines Ventures (UAV) Sustainable Flight Fund since it launched earlier this year.
The fund, set up by the US airline in February to invest in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) research, technology and production, has now reached nearly $200 million in funding.
Amex GBT is one of the latest companies to invest in United’s fund, alongside Aramco Ventures, Aviation Capital Group, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Groupe ADP (operator of Paris’ major airports), Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Ventures.
They join original investors such as JPMorgan Chase, GE Aerospace, Honeywell, Air Canada and United itself, which raised the fund’s first $100 million.
United also revealed that more than 60,000 passengers had contributed more than $200,000 to the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund since its launch. Travellers flying within the US or from the US can choose to contribute $1, $3.50 or $7.00 before they complete their booking.
Michael Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures, said: “While United can’t decarbonise the airline industry alone, we can use our leadership and credibility in this space to rally others to join us.
“Our new and inaugural participants demonstrate the impressive commitment within aviation and beyond to reduce our carbon footprint and combat the threat of climate change.
“The UAV Sustainable Flight Fund presents a unique opportunity – instead of fighting over the current limited supply of SAF, with our partners, we’re working collaboratively to help scale the SAF industry itself, and to get an equity stake in groundbreaking technology while doing it.”
United hopes to recruit more corporations from across different sectors to join the fund and plans to prioritise investment in new technology, advanced fuel sources and “proven” producers.
Amex GBT launched its own SAF programme called Avelia last year, which offers a “book-and-claim” platform for corporates to contribute towards the cost of sustainable fuel.