VistaJet launches plan to become carbon neutral by 2025

And Matteo Atti, executive vice president of marketing and innovation, told Arabian Business the ten-step plan is just the start of the sustainability path being taken by the private aviation giant.

He said: “We have seen some announcements early in the day, which were just done on a PR basis. What we’re saying today is that it is a start, it is a commitment, it’s not over, it’s just the beginning.

“It’s about getting out there and doing something about it, knowing our limitations, knowing what can be done today and hoping that tomorrow we can do more.”

The current goal, set by civil aviation bodies, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the global business aviation community, is a 50 percent reduction of emissions by 2050.

But Atti said that simply wasn’t good enough. “It’s too slow,” he said. “There is no reason to wait and that is the spirit of this announcement.”

In 2020, over 80 percent of VistaJet members offset CO2 emissions relative to their flights’ fuel consumption in partnership with South Pole, a global provider of climate action solutions.

VistaJet also partnered with SkyNRG, a pioneer and a global leader in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), to be the first to provide global access to SAF for business aviation.

Matteo Atti is the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Innovation for VistaJet

Atti said: “SAF is seen as the largest opportunity here because it can reduce by 80-85 percent the emissions on fuel.”

Among other product and service innovations, VistaJet introduced the Global 7500, the first business jet with an Environmental Product Declaration; optimised routes to reduce fuel burn; invested in AI technology for optimised fleet management; and drove the sustainability conversation and awareness among its clients and the whole aviation industry.

“We have been working in the background on our plans for four years more or less and every month there was this sense of ‘why are we waiting? What can we do more? How do we go around this? Because it’s not a simple subject matter believe me. If you think about transportation, you need to move goods, you need to move people, that is something that is not going away,” said Atti.

“For intercontinental and continental flights, I can’t take a train for that, I can’t row on a boat, it’s been tried, but it’s not realistic.

“What we said is, business aviation may be the sustainability flagship, and there are no excuses for us not trying as hard as we can.”

And he is hoping others will follow suit as VistaJet helps transport the entire industry towards carbon neutrality.

In 2020, over 80 percent of VistaJet members offset CO2 emissions relative to their flights’ fuel consumption in partnership with South Pole

He said: “We are about 2 percent of the global market. We are a drop in the ocean. Imagine if our system and our discoveries can be used as a blueprint by the 98 percent of that, because they are not going to buy all new electric or hydrogen aircraft in one week when it becomes available, that will be a slow process.

“If we can use this as a blueprint example of how to start changing things, even the smaller companies can start moving and copy what we’ve done. This is where our biggest hope is, that we can influence the 98 percent of the flights to simply follow.”

VistaJet’s ten-point plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 includes:

• Carbon offset program for customers globally
• Global sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) program for every client around the world
• Most technologically advanced aircraft
• Fuel consumption reduction technology
• Fuel Efficient Booking System
• Partnering with leaders in sustainability
• Sustainable in-flight products
• Moving to renewable electricity on-the-ground
• Annual greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting report
• Annual climate risk report (starting in 2021), in line with the recommendations of the task force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)