Spanish airline Vueling has seen more than 100,000 passengers choosing to contribute towards the cost of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) during the first year of its opt-in scheme.
Vueling, which is part of IAG alongside British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, started giving travellers the option to contribute towards the higher price of SAF in June 2022 using the Avikor system, owned by logistics company Exolum.
Passengers can opt to contribute to the cost of sustainable fuel during the booking process and this is then matched by Vueling to double the amount of SAF supplied.
So far, this process has seen 145 tonnes of SAF supplied to the airline, which has reduced emissions by up to 350 tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to 15 round trips between London and Barcelona.
Franc Sanmarti, director of sustainability and government affairs at Vueling, said: “Since the launch of the SAF supply contribution, Vueling has continued to offer competitive prices while also providing an option to reduce the environmental impact of flying, supporting the transition to carbon neutral and more sustainable transportation.
“Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go, as we need to accelerate SAF production if we want to meet the industry's demand in the short and medium term.”
The airline said that 50 per cent of the customers opting to contribute towards SAF were aged 35 to 64, while 40 per cent were in younger age groups and just 9 per cent older than 65.
Vueling said it was “on track” to achieve its goal of using at least 10 per cent SAF by 2030, when it hopes to reach 100,000 tonnes of the sustainable fuel annually. This would be above the proposed EU mandate of at least 6 per cent SAF usage by 2030.
Asking customers to pay towards SAF has drawn criticism from European consumer groups, which have accused 17 airlines, including Vueling, of “greenwashing” over their claims about making air travel more sustainable.