The transition of Asia-Pacific markets to sustainable aviation fuel has just been boosted in five nations, with fresh developments in Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. The Australian government, in its 2024 budget, has announced plans to fast-track support for a low-carbon liquid fuel sector, with a specific initial focus on SAF, while Singapore Airlines and its low-cost sibling Scoot have announced their first purchase of the fuel at Changi International Airport from the newly activated Neste Singapore refinery, currently the world’s largest single SAF production plant.  Two major collaborations have also been announced between Japanese and Malaysian partners, in which SAF produced in Malaysia will be supplied to Japan, to help meet that country’s 2030 mandate of 10% SAF usage. Another regional collaboration will see used cooking oil sourced from another Japanese company used to help produce SAF at a new refinery due to open in Thailand in the first half of 2025.

Following strong lobbying from the aviation and energy sectors, the Australian government has committed to supporting the production of low-carbon liquid fuels, including SAF, in the Net Zero strategy of the nation’s Future Made in Australia Plan.

Over the next decade, the government will invest A$1.7 billion ($1.14bn) to support the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in commercialising net zero innovations including low-carbon fuels. 

Additionally, over four years starting in 2024-25, the government will commit A$18.5 million ($12.4m) to develop a certification scheme for low-carbon fuels including SAF and renewable diesel by expanding the national Guarantee of Origin scheme, which is already being developed to track and verify emissions linked to the production in Australia of hydrogen and renewable electricity.

A further A$1.5 million ($1m) will be spent over two years to investigate costs and benefits of introducing mandates or other demand-side measures to drive up the use of low carbon liquid fuels. The government will also undertake a “targeted” consultation on production incentives to support local production of new fuels. 

“Two years ago in Australia, SAF was an acronym with barely a skerrick of interest,” said Andrew Parker, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Qantas Group, one of the strongest advocates of developing a local SAF sector and mandates to drive up demand.

“The commencement of this funding and related policy measures are significant first steps on our path to decarbonise aviation here,” said Parker. “A progressive universal SAF mandate remains the most essential policy lever we have to secure capital and technology and ensure consistency and maintain competitiveness with our major trading partners.”   

Airbus, another strong advocate of and investor in Australian SAF, welcomed the government’s initiatives. “They will help move SAF from plans today into planes tomorrow,” said Stephen Forshaw, the airframer’s chief representative in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. “The world is moving to scale up production of SAF with supply-side support by governments helping to derisk early projects. Australia’s announcements recognise this.”

At Singapore’s Changi International Airport, the first SAF produced locally by global refiner Neste will be supplied to SIA Group‘s two carriers, Singapore Airlines and its low-cost sibling Scoot.

The carriers’ parent company, Singapore Airlines Group, has agreed to buy 1,000 tonnes of neat SAF, which Neste will then blend and transfer into the airport’s fuel system, one batch in the second quarter of 2024, the other in the fourth. The SAF will be produced from recycled waste and residue raw materials.

“This supply of locally produced SAF to Changi Airport is a milestone in our journey of supporting the aviation industry and governments in the region to achieve their emissions reduction goals,” said Alexander Kueper, Neste’s VP, Renewable Aviation. “We are looking forward to expanding our cooperation with Singapore Airlines as well as supplying visiting carriers at Changi Airport.”

The airline’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Lee Wen Fen, said the deal was an important step towards a target of including 5% SAF in its total 2030 fuel use. As well, from this month, SIA will offer 1,000 SAF book-and-claim units (BCUs) for purchase by corporate travellers, shippers and freight forwarders to help compensate for their flight emissions. Each BCU will equate to 1 tonne of neat SAF and its associated carbon dioxide reduction benefit.

Three Japanese corporations have also entered new SAF deals, with two in Malaysia and one in Thailand.

Tokyo-based biotechnology company Euglena, which produces renewable fuels from used cooking oils and microalgae, has formed a new partnership with Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas to build and operate a commercial biofuels production plant in Malaysia. Euglena has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan Airport Terminal (JAT), which operates Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, to jointly develop a SAF supply chain to the airport, with the two also looking to commercialising and providing the fuel to airlines.

If the Japanese government’s mandate of 10% SAF usage by 2030 was applied to Haneda Airport’s total jet fuel consumption in 2022, the companies estimate the airport would require 220 million litres of SAF per year. Eugena and JAT claim they would be able to supply 50 million litres of SAF per year, or 23% of the total required.

Marubeni Corporation, another major Japanese industrialist, has just announced an MoU with InvestSarawak, a government agency in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, to study the feasibility of producing SAF from biomass resources in the region. No details of fuel volumes or production timeframes were disclosed.

Meanwhile, a third Japanese company, Sumitomo Corporation, has agreed to provide used cooking oil to Thailand’s Bangchak Group, which is developing a new SAF plant with capacity to produce 1 million litres of fuel per day, commencing in the second quarter of 2025. The UCO will supplement supplies collected by Bangchak through its 162 service stations in Thailand. In a separate deal, Sumitomo and Japan’s Cosmo Oil will buy SAF produced by Bangchak.

Photo: Neste’s Singapore refinery

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

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Air New Zealand is seeking partnerships with emerging providers of sustainable aviation fuel as part of an expanding programme to reduce its flight emissions through industrial collaboration. Having previously linked with established SAF producers and both aircraft and powertrain manufacturers the airline now wants SAF innovators and start-ups as potential suppliers of low-carbon fuel, which it expects will comprise about 20% of its requirements by 2030. Air New Zealand’s search for SAF partners follows the recent release of a study by Ara Ake, New Zealand’s Future Energy Centre, which examines the merits and disbenefits of future fuels and propulsion systems in reducing domestic aviation emissions. The study concluded that only SAF and green hydrogen could effectively decarbonise New Zealand’s internal flights but the volume of resources needed to produce cleaner fuels might short-change other sectors of the economy. Meanwhile, Australian startup Jet Zero Australia has just secured additional funding to produce SAF from sugar cane waste in Queensland.

Kiri Hannifin, Air New Zealand’s Chief Sustainability Officer, says the airline plays a critical role in connecting its remote homeland to other nations, but must do so more sustainably and quickly. Underpinning its search for innovative new SAF partners it has issued an Opportunity Statement, which provides an overview of its needs based on fleet, network and its sustainability targets and criteria.

“A stable supply of SAF is critical to our ability to reduce carbon emissions,” said Hannifin. “That’s why we’ve taken this novel approach, asking emerging SAF producers from around the world to connect with us and respond to the Opportunity Statement.”

Air New Zealand expects SAF to meet about 20% of its aircraft fuel requirements by 2030, in tandem with “a long term and strategic regulatory package” for which it has long advocated in its Flight NZ0 decarbonisation plan.

The SAF Consortium, a lobby group whose members include Air New Zealand, Z Energy, Scion, LanzaTech and LanzaJet, has argued a local SAF industry could deliver 50% of New Zealand’s aviation fuel demand by 2050, supported by domestically-sourced feedstock, with the balance of SAF imported. It has proposed SAF blending mandates, beginning at 2.5% in 2025 and increasing to 50% in 2050, for both domestic and international flights, and called for government policies including tax credits and grants that prioritise production of SAF over biofuels for road transport.

The national airline says it wants to secure short, medium and long term SAF offtake deals, not only to meet its own needs but also to help drive up demand for the fuels and help mitigate production risks for SAF producers, their investors and financiers.

“Air New Zealand is an ideal airline partner for SAF innovators and producers,” added Hannifin. “We have a mature understanding of SAF, a clear roadmap to meet our targets and the volumes of SAF we need to align with current production capabilities. This Opportunity Statement shares our vision and allows current and future SAF producers to recognise both the opportunity and Air New Zealand’s ambition to become a customer as soon as possible.”

Paralleling Air New Zealand’s global invitation to new SAF producers, Ara Ake, New Zealand’s Future Energy Centre, recently concluded a study of future fuels and propulsion systems to help reduce the country’s domestic aviation emissions. It identified strong technical capabilities for battery-electric, green hydrogen and SAF propulsion, but flagged both enormous production costs and a significant drain on national electricity supplies as major impediments.

The report, led by Ara Ake’s Research and Insights Manager, Dr Jono Barnard, calculated that around 200,000 domestic flights operated each year in New Zealand, roughly 22 per hour, and highlighted a high reliance on aviation because of limited surface transport options outside major cities or provincial centres on the South Pacific nation’s two major islands.    

“Approximately 16 million passengers board these flights to travel a total distance over 80 million kilometres, and flight remains to be among the only options to quickly travel in New Zealand, both intra and inter-island,” said the report. “As a result, New Zealand has among the largest per capita domestic aviation emissions in the world and as easier-to-abate sectors of the economy are decarbonised, domestic aviation’s relative portion of national gross emissions will likely increase.”

Ara Ake concluded that while battery-electric, green hydrogen and SAF power could theoretically deliver significant reductions in domestic flight emissions, only SAF and green hydrogen, or a combination of both, could support all of New Zealand’s internal flights, and even then the large volume of resources required to produce cleaner aviation fuels would deprive other sectors.

The report calculated the average emissions reductions offered by various SAF production pathways, with the current most common, hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) at 63%, Fischer-Tropsch biomass conversion at 77%, alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) at 51% and e-SAF, produced with green hydrogen, the most efficient at 85%.

“With e-SAF, in theory there are few constraints on the supply side to produce the required hydrogen and carbon,” explained Ara Ake. “However, the production process is expensive and highly energy-intensive, requiring more than twice the electricity than if domestic aviation was decarbonised with liquid hydrogen and approximately 10 times more than SAF produced using waste biomass.”

In neighbouring north Queensland, Australia, startup renewable energy group Jet Zero Australia has just secured A$29 million ($19m) in additional capital to progress construction of an alcohol-to-jet SAF plant which is targeting annual production of 102 million litres of SAF and 11 million litres of renewable diesel by early 2027. US AtJ producer LanzaJet is also a partner in the project, while the Queensland state government provided a A$760,000 grant to fund a feasibility study of the project.

Investors in the latest funding round included Japanese oil company Idemitsu Kosan, to support not only the Australian development but also the Japanese government’s mandate that by 2030, SAF must comprise 10% of all aviation fuel uplifted in that country. The commitment is the first by Idemitsu in a SAF project outside Japan.

The capital raising was also supported by Airbus and Qantas, both existing investors in the development, called Project Ulysses after a South Pacific butterfly species.

Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer Andrew Parker said producing SAF onshore had the potential to create 18,000 jobs and generate A$13 billion in economic benefits annually by 2040, in addition to increasing Australia’s domestic fuel security.

Jet Zero Australia has also entered a 50-50 joint venture with Singapore-based Apeiron AgroCommodities, one of Asia’s largest collectors of used cooking oil, to develop low-intensity feedstocks in Australia to help meet growing demand for renewable fuels.

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

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Just weeks after commissioning the world’s first refinery to convert ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel, US-based SAF producer LanzaJet and Jet Zero Australia, an emerging biofuels company, have announced a licence and engineering agreement to develop a similar plant in Australia, supported by Qantas, Airbus and the Queensland state government. Subject to a final investment decision, the proposed plant will be built near the coastal city of Townsville, in tropical northeast Queensland, and will use LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet technology to convert bioethanol into SAF. Designated as Project Ulysses, after a butterfly species found in the region, the facility will have capacity to produce up to 102 million litres of SAF per year by transforming agricultural waste, including sugar cane, from the region’s farms. Jet Zero’s CEO, Ed Mason, said the partners were targeting late 2026 to early 2027 to commence SAF production.

Qantas has long lobbied Australia’s federal and state governments to support the development of a local SAF industry, not just for environmental reasons but also to help ensure national fuel security and create new employment. It has also urged the national government to develop policy settings to enable SAF to be produced locally and has called for the introduction of blending mandates to help drive up demand as well as bring down prices.

The agreement between Jet Zero and LanzaJet followed a feasibility study in which the Queensland government invested A$760,000 ($491,000) as part of a strategy to attract SAF production to the state and to use local biomass waste for fuel feedstocks. Currently, large volumes of Australian fuel feedstocks flow out of the country to other markets for use in their SAF production programmes.

“North Queensland is in a unique position to provide feedstock for this project, while also being close to the industry partners that are already investing in our state,” said Steven Miles, the Premier of Queensland, who also identified jobs in facility construction, SAF production and the agriculture, aviation, defence and tourism sectors.  

His Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Grace Grace, also flagged export opportunities through the project, which she said would help Queensland to become the leader of a domestic SAF industry.  

Although the federal government is not a partner in Project Ulysses, it is aiming by 2030 to reduce national carbon emissions by 43% compared to 2005, progressing to net zero emissions by 2050. Reducing flight emissions for civil aircraft and potentially also military craft will be a key focus of the government’s new Aviation White Paper, a broad-based strategy document which will be released this year to guide the industry’s development until 2050.

Jet Zero’s Ed Mason welcomed the LanzaJet agreement, which he said would enable the project to progress towards a final investment decision, while strengthening the partnership not just with the US producer, but also with Qantas and Airbus.

“We believe in building industry, protecting our climate and enabling energy and national security, and our work in Australia delivers that ambition,” added LanzaJet’s CEO, Jimmy Samartzis. “Doing leading edge work requires partnership, and we’re proud to join Jet Zero Australia, the Queensland government, Airbus and Qantas to position Australia as a leader in the region on sustainable aviation fuels, with direct impact in significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enabling job creation and preserving Australia’s environment for generations to come.”

Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer Andrew Parker said SAF was “the most significant tool airlines have to reduce their emissions, but it’s only available offshore with no local supply for airlines in Australia.” Australia’s largest airline group, he added, “is investing in technology like this Queensland biofuel refinery to help kickstart a local SAF industry so flights around Australia can be powered to produce lower emissions.”

The airline regularly uplifts SAF in London and has committed to other offtake deals including in the US through a joint purchasing deal brokered by the oneworld airline alliance, of which it is a member. As well, it has just started a major programme to upgrade its narrow and widebody fleets with new Airbus and Boeing jets and commenced retrofitting split scimitar winglets to 23 of its B737-800 jets to improve their fuel efficiency while reducing carbon and other emissions.

“Australia lacks production of sustainable aviation fuel,” added Stephen Forshaw, Airbus Chief Representative, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific. “The challenge to start production is urgent. If we don’t move soon, the opportunity to build a new fuels industry locally will disappear.

“However, we think Australia has every chance of becoming a sustainable fuels superpower, with the right support from government and industry. This is why we’re so supportive of Jet Zero’s mission to become Australia’s first home-grown producer of SAF, and equally of their partnership with LanzaJet that will enable production here.”

Photo: Qantas

Tony Harrington

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The Australian government has prioritised decarbonisation of air transport in its newly-released Aviation Green Paper, ‘Towards 2050’ (AGP50), which lays the foundations for the nation’s aviation policy over the next decades. The document identifies key issues and calls for industry and public submissions to help shape a long-term strategy, which will be unveiled next year in the government’s Aviation White Paper. AGP50 highlights the importance of sustainable aviation fuel and both electric and hydrogen propulsion technologies in reducing emissions from aircraft operations, while expecting all emitters in the aviation industry – not just airlines – to contribute to net zero commitments. Meanwhile, the nation’s largest airline company, the Qantas Group, has said it will increase its SAF commitments to as much as 500 million litres per year from 2028, in partnership with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, from which it has just placed firm orders  for 24 new widebody jets.

The Aviation Green Paper was launched by Catherine King, the national Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. The focus on decarbonising Australia’s air transport forms part of the government’s broader 2030 programme to reduce carbon emissions by 43% below 2005 levels, enroute to its target of net zero emissions by 2050. “The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the largest shock the aviation industry has ever experienced,” said King. “The next challenge is decarbonisation.” 

The Green Paper identifies four key pathways to decarbonise flight operations – primarily SAF, followed by fleet renewal, electric and hydrogen aircraft propulsion and air traffic management. Airports and other areas of the aviation industry, including airport service providers such as catering, security, safety, refuelling and aircraft support and maintenance, are all expected to rise to the net zero challenge.

According to the 224-page document, Australia could develop a diversified portfolio of locally-produced feedstocks to help establish a domestic SAF industry, but acknowledges large volumes were instead being exported to SAF producers in other countries, and that Australia’s lack of refining capacity reduced opportunities to develop renewable fuel.

However, it adds: “Large landmass, temperate climates, advanced farming practices and established land transport supply chains are potential assets to develop a range of biogenic feedstocks. These comparative advantages can be seen in Australia’s current production and export volumes in oilseeds, sugars and agricultural residues. 

“A situation where Australian-produced feedstock is exported internationally under long-term supply contracts could undermine feedstock use by Australian refiners and operators, and result in Australia missing out on the economic and sustainability benefits of domestic SAF production.”

Hydrogen propulsion is promising though “unlikely to enter widespread deployment until earliest 2035, with 2040-2050 more likely,” observes AGP50, while electric propulsion is expected for low-capacity, short-range flights by the early 2030s.

“Using new fuel such as hydrogen for longer-haul flights would face significant technological and supply chain challenges, such as developing onboard hydrogen storage and establishing large-scale green hydrogen production and distribution. Creating refuelling and recharging infrastructure and large-scale manufacturing capabilities will require time and investment, and costs are currently unclear.”

The Green Paper acknowledges the role of high-quality offsets as a means of achieving net emission reductions “rather than a measure to decarbonise aviation,” and notes demand had grown with net zero targets. It added: “Offsets will play a role in the near term as other technologies scale and in the long term to address residual CO2 emissions. However, social impact challenges remain about quality and transparency of offsets and reliability of accounting data.”

Under reforms to emissions safeguard mechanisms in Australia, emissions limits, or baselines, for Australia’s largest-emitting airlines will reduce by 4.9% per year, says the white paper, “creating demand for abatement options such as SAF, fleet renewal and the use of high-quality offsets.”

As well, because facilities which used carbon offsets equal to 30% or more of their baseline would need to detail why they were not delivering more actual emissions abatement, “this may drive increased uptake of SAF and other decarbonisation measures where available.”

Shifts to alternative transportation modes such as high-speed rail could dampen demand for flights, suggests the government, as might more use of technologies such as videoconferencing. “However, while these options exist in Australia, the country’s relatively lower connectivity, dispersed population and geographical isolation from the rest of the world may limit flight alternatives.”

The Aviation Green Paper was released soon after Qantas announced a large increase in its proposed uptake of SAF, in partnership with airframers Airbus and Boeing, as part of new orders for widebody jets. In addition to significant recent orders for narrowbody Airbus A220 and A320-family aircraft, and widebody Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, Qantas has ordered 12 more long range Airbus A350s and 12 more Boeings, a mix of 787-9s and larger 787-10s, to replace current A330s from 2027 and A380s from 2032.

The deals include access to up to 500 million litres of SAF each year from 2028, including the airline group’s current commitments for 80 million litres. This accounts for 90% of the company’s interim target that SAF should comprise 10% of its 2030 jet fuel consumption. The SAF would be sourced in the US, said Qantas, “at favourable prices due to favourable government polices” – a thinly-veiled reference to the current lack of government support for SAF development or incentives for use in Australia.

Photo: Qantas

The Australian government has accelerated plans to decarbonise the nation’s air transport sector, formally launching the Australian Jet Zero Council and also announcing a AUD$30 million ($20m) funding programme to support local production of sustainable aviation fuels. The Jet Zero Council will focus on end-to-end development of SAF, from production to distribution, and additional measures to reduce emissions and increase aviation fuel security. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will coordinate the SAF funding initiative, which specifies new fuels must be produced using locally-sourced renewable feedstocks. Power-to-liquids and e-fuel pathways are specifically excluded from the programme. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia and Boeing have formed a new sustainability partnership to push for the development of an Australian SAF industry.

“For a country so reliant on aviation for passenger and freight transport it’s essential that we find ways to reduce emissions from this critical sector,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller. “With abundant agriculture, waste and residue resources, Australia has the potential to support a thriving domestic biofuel industry.”

The two initiatives are in response to strong lobbying of the current and previous governments by the aviation industry to help kickstart local production of renewable aviation fuel and the use of domestically-abundant feedstocks, much of which are currently exported for offshore production of renewable fuels.

They also follow commitments by both Qantas and Regional Express (REX) to invest in sustainable aviation ventures, and a partnership between Virgin Australia and Boeing to help advance SAF production.

The 14-member Jet Zero Council includes representatives of the three airlines, plus Airbus and Boeing, Brisbane Airport, the Regional Aviation Association of Australia, the Department of Defence and the fuel industry, plus federal government finance, investment, research and development agencies.

The body will be chaired by Catherine King, the federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, and modelled on the UK’s Jet Zero Council. As well as driving industry efforts to decarbonise aviation, the new council’s work will complement the government’s Aviation White Paper, currently being developed to guide the industry’s next phase of growth and development.

The funding initiative announced by ARENA, which is also one of the founding members of the Jet Zero Council, is offering funding of between AUD $1 million ($670,000) and $30 million ($20m) for commercial or pre-commercial SAF production, focused on engineering feasibility and project development activities or supporting pilot scale demonstrations.

The agency said it would also seek proposals with “novel and scalable approaches across the supply chain”, including innovation in feedstock supply such as aggregation or business models which supported domestic production of SAF.

ARENA’s Miller said the initiative served the dual purpose of leveraging natural advantages to reduce aviation’s emissions and maximising the economic opportunities of feedstock and fuel development. The agency’s Bioenergy Roadmap identified SAF produced from renewable biomass could produce up to 19% of Australia’s aviation sector fuel needs by 2030, as part of a broader AUD $10 billion contribution of bioenergy projects to the national GDP.

“Although Australia currently lacks local production of SAF, it possesses significant potential in renewable feedstocks that could be harnessed to meet both domestic and global SAF supply needs,” ARENA explained.

“Proposals will be required to demonstrate that they use or process and eligible renewable feedstock and production pathway. Power-to-liquid or e-fuel production pathways are not supported under the funding initiative.”

The formation of the Jet Zero Council and the announcement by ARENA of the sustainable aviation funding programme closely follow a AUD$400 million ($267m) commitment by Qantas to establish a dedicated investment vehicle to support sustainable projects and technologies – a fund which the company claims to be the largest created by any airline.

The Qantas Group, which includes Qantas International, Qantas Domestic, Qantas Freight and the low-cost carrier Jetstar, has long called for a local SAF production industry, and last year partnered with ANZ Bank and Japanese energy group Inpex Corporation in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt Region in a project to evaluate both reforestation and decarbonisation using drought-resilient native trees, and the use of native biomass crops and agricultural waste residues as feedstocks for renewable biofuels. The first planting of native trees is expected to occur this year.

Together with Airbus and the Queensland state government, Qantas is also investing in a new alcohol-to-jet production facility planned by the bioenergy company Jet Zero Australia and the US-based energy technology group LanzaJet, which will process locally-sourced agricultural waste including sugarcane to produce up to 100 million litres of SAF per year.   

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia and Boeing have committed to a new sustainability partnership through which they will “prioritise joint advocacy” for the development of an Australian SAF industry, and work together to advance carbon offsets in Australia that support regional development, particularly in indigenous communities. Their commitment came as the airline added the first of eight new Boeing 737 MAX8 jets to its fleet, which was part-powered by a 30% blend of SAF on its delivery flight to Australia.

Photo: Virgin Australia

Australia’s Qantas Group has become the latest airline company to establish a dedicated investment vehicle for sustainable projects and technologies, announcing a AUD$400 million ($267m) climate fund as part of its broader emissions reduction strategy. The group, which includes Qantas International, Qantas Domestic, Qantas Freight and low-cost Jetstar Airways, has also urged the Australian government to follow the lead of other nations and implement a blending mandate for sustainable aviation fuel to help drive sufficient demand to create a viable domestic SAF industry. The new fund, claimed by Qantas to be the largest created by any airline, ties together an existing AUD$290 million partnership with Airbus to help deliver commercial-scale SAF production in Australia and a new commitment of AUD$110 million for other projects including offshore SAF investments, operational efficiency technologies, and high integrity carbon offsets.

The Qantas climate fund closely follows a $200 million, three-year commitment by its commercial partner Emirates to invest in research and development for sustainable aviation technologies, and similar initiatives by others including US operators United and JetBlue.

“Managing climate change is now built into how we do business and is a key part of our strategy through to 2030 and beyond,” said Andrew Parker, Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer, who announced the new climate fund during the company’s recent Investor Strategy Day when the group released details of its post-Covid recovery plans. 

“We have already made progress towards our interim climate targets with sustainable aviation fuel powering our flights out of London, more fuel-efficient aircraft arriving every month and a mature carbon offset programme. We need to turbocharge these efforts if we are to cut our carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 and have net zero emissions by 2050.

“We’re backing our targets with an expanded investment of up to AUD$400 million to help projects get off the ground, because it’s new technologies and bringing proven solutions to scale that will deliver the emissions reductions we need, and protect the future of travel in the process.”

Qantas says SAF is “the most significant tool airlines currently have” to reduce their emissions, but adds that without a SAF industry in Australia, it must rely on supplies sourced overseas, including 10 million litres this year for flights from London’s Heathrow Airport and from 2025, commitments for another 20 million litres per year from California. It is relying upon and pushing for a SAF production industry in Australia as part of its commitment to having 10% SAF in its overall fuel mix by 2030, and approximately 60% by 2050.

“State governments around Australia are making important progress on working with industry to help decarbonise, and we welcome that,” said Parker.

Qantas, Airbus and the Queensland State Government recently announced they would invest in a new alcohol-to-jet production facility planned by bioenergy company Jet Zero Australia and US-based fuel technology group LanzaJet, using locally-sourced agricultural feedstock including sugar cane to produce up to 100 million litres of SAF per year.

But the airline says more is needed. “Creating markets for new fuels is a critical part of tackling climate change, which is why we’re calling for a SAF mandate to be introduced to catalyse the development of the industry. Without the right policy settings and signals we will see investment, projects and feedstocks move offshore to places with specific policy support.”

These include the UK, Europe and Japan, which have proposed or confirmed SAF blending mandates of between 5% and 10% by 2030, while the US has set a production target of 3 billion gallons per year.

In addition to SAF use, Qantas is exploring direct investment in technology projects, partnerships and managed funds “with a clear nexus to our targets,” it reports, and exploring options including access to mechanical carbon removal solutions both for SAF production and high integrity offsets with biodiversity and social benefits. “We’re seeking game-changing technology projects and partnership opportunities that align with our fund mandate,” the airline explained.

Qantas has also ordered or optioned almost 300 next-generation aircraft for delivery in the next decade, including Airbus A220s from the end of this year, A321neo XLRs from late 2024, more Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, the next of which is due within weeks, and ultra long-range Airbus A350-1000s, to be used for nonstop Project Sunrise flights between eastern Australia and both London and New York. The first of 20 ageing Boeing 717s has just been withdrawn from service and the group’s large fleet of Boeing 737-800s will be gradually phased out as the new Airbus narrowbodies arrive. As well, the group’s low-cost carrier Jetstar is also adding new A321LR aircraft, the long-range variant of the A320neo. 

In addition to new fuels and fleet, Qantas has integrated climate change considerations into its financial framework, including considering a cost of carbon in financial decisions, and from FY23 has linked executive remuneration to performance against climate targets. It has also committed to eliminating non-medical single-use plastics by 2027 and zero waste to landfill, excluding quarantine items. And it has established partnerships with major corporate customers, enabling them to reduce emissions by contributing to the cost of SAF used by the airline, while also convincing more than 400,000 of its frequent flyers to reduce their own environmental impacts through initiatives rewarded under the Green Tier of its loyalty programme.

Photo: Qantas

Qantas and Airbus have announced a AUD$200 million ($140m), five-year partnership to expedite production of sustainable aviation fuels in Australia by investing in local fuel and feedstock initiatives. The airline has also revealed “encouraging discussions” with the country’s newly-elected federal government to support a transition of the aviation industry to low carbon fuels. The Australian Sustainable Aviation Fuel Partnership was signed by Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury ahead of the IATA AGM in Doha, at which decarbonisation of airline operations is a key issue. Qantas has committed to using 10% SAF in its overall fuel mix by 2030 on a journey to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Currently there is no SAF available in Australia, the airline’s home base and largest market, although the airline is using SAF on flights from London, reports Tony Harrington.

“This investment will help kickstart a local biofuels industry in Australia and hopefully encourage additional investment from governments and other business,” said Joyce, but warned: “Without swift action, Australia is at risk of being left behind.”

Faury said the use of SAFs would be a key driver of cleaner air transport, but added: “We can’t do this without viable industrial systems to produce and commercialise these energy sources at affordable rates and near to key hubs around the world. This is especially true for a country like Australia, which is geographically distant and highly reliant on aviation to remain connected, both domestically and internationally.”

Qantas now uses 15% SAF on its flights from London Heathrow direct to Australia and Singapore, and from 2025 has committed to use 20 million litres of SAF per year on its flights from the US west coast gateways Los Angeles and San Francisco. The airline has also foreshadowed further deals in other international markets. However, it has expressed frustration that there is no commercial scale SAF production in Australia, from where it says millions of tonnes of feedstock including canola and animal tallow are exported each year to support SAF projects elsewhere.

Because of its global scarcity, SAF is around three times the price of conventional aviation fuels and will only become affordable if large scale production drives prices down. Many other markets are progressing SAF development, among them fellow Asia-Pacific nations New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, but so far Australia has not followed.

“The use of SAF is increasing globally as governments and industry work together to find ways to decarbonise the aviation sector,” said Joyce. “It makes a lot of sense for us to put equity into an industry that we will be the biggest customer of. With this investment, Qantas and Airbus are putting our money where our mouth is and betting on the innovation and ingenuity of Australian industry. We’re calling on other companies and producers to come forward with their biofuel projects.”

Joyce also turned up the heat on the new Australian government to support local SAF development, coinciding with its decision to increase from 28% to 43% the nation’s greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030. “The aviation industry needs the right policy settings in place to ensure the price of SAF comes down over time so that the cost of air travel doesn’t rise,” he said. “We’ve had some encouraging discussions with the incoming government, given its strong focus on emissions reduction, and look forward to that progressing.”

The Qantas-Airbus sustainability initiative, which flows from the airline’s recent commitment to acquire up to 134 Airbus A220 and A320-family narrowbody jets over the next decade, as well as a fleet of ultra-long range A350-1000 widebodies for nonstop ’Project Sunrise’ flights between eastern Australia and both London and New York. The new jets collectively are expected to cut the airline’s fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 25%, and have already been certified to operate with a mix of up to 50% SAF.

US engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney, whose GTF engines will power the new narrowbody fleet, is also a participant in the green investment project, which includes AUD$50 million already committed by Qantas in a partnership with Air bp. As well, Qantas recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Japanese oil and gas exploration company Inpex Corporation to evaluate a project in Western Australia through which low carbon renewable biofuels would be created through harvesting and processing of native biomass crops and selected agricultural waste residues.   

The airline has already commenced discussions with major corporate travel customers to gauge their interest in SAF offsets, or the purchase of SAF proportionate with the emissions generated by the air travel of their employees. Such a programme could also be expanded to also enable individual travellers to offset their flight emissions, potentially before the end of this year.

The Qantas-Airbus initiative was quickly welcomed by the industry group Bioenergy Australia, convenor of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Alliance of Australia and New Zealand (SAFAANZ), an advocacy group of which Qantas is one of 22 members. Among the policies it has advocated are an initial 2.5% SAF blending mandate in Australia, rising to 3% by 2030.

Photo: Qantas Airbus A321XLR

Australia’s Qantas Group, which includes Qantas Airways and its low-cost sibling Jetstar, has unveiled a four-pillar strategy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, targeting a 25% cut in carbon emissions by 2030, based on 2019 levels. The Qantas Group Climate Action Plan is focused on the use of sustainable aviation fuels, fuel efficiency initiatives, waste reduction and an expanded offsets programme concentrated on projects in Australia. Headlining the strategy is a commitment to use a 10% blend of SAF across the group by 2030, ramping to 60% by 2050, in addition to an average annual fuel efficiency target of 1.5% through fleet renewal and operational efficiencies in the air and on the ground. The company has also pledged to eliminate single-use plastics by 2027 and to cease sending general waste to landfill by 2030. The Qantas plan comes just days after a new report by the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Alliance of Australia and New Zealand (SAFAANZ) that urged the formation of a Jet Council to help shape and expedite the establishment of an Australian SAF industry, reports Tony Harrington.

“Aviation is a crucial industry, especially in a country the size of Australia,” commented Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce on the publication of the group’s new Climate Action Plan. “Having a clear plan to decarbonise Qantas and Jetstar so we can keep delivering these services in the decades ahead is absolutely key to our future. We’ve had a zero net emissions goal for several years, so today’s interim targets are about accelerating our progress and cutting emissions as quickly as technology allows. Hydrogen or electric-powered aircraft are several decades away, particularly for the length of most [of our] flights, so our plan is focused on the technology that is within reach today.

“One benefit of setting these targets now is sending a clear signal that we’re in the market for large volumes of sustainable aviation fuel, for carbon offset projects and for products that can be recycled. That will hopefully encourage more investment and build more momentum for the industry as a whole.”

The Qantas Group has already committed an initial A$50 million ($37m) towards the creation of a SAF industry in Australia and has partnered with Air bp to explore ways of doing so. Since early this year, SAF has comprised 15% of the fuel used by Qantas on its flights from London’s Heathrow Airport, both nonstop to Australia, and increasingly to Singapore. As well, the company signed a second major agreement with US biofuels company Aemetis in March to acquire almost 20 million litres of SAF per year from 2025 to help power its flights from airports in California – it currently serves Los Angeles and San Francisco – and has revealed that negotiations are underway to secure SAF in other offshore markets. It has also intensified its advocacy for a home-based SAF industry, urging “all levels of government to lend support to ensure Australia manufactures the biofuel like the UK, US and Europe already are.”

To further help reduce its emissions, Qantas recently announced plans to acquire up to 134 Airbus A320neo and A220-family jets to replace, over a 10-year period, its current fleet of narrowbody Boeing 737-800 and 717 twinjets. The airline expects to finalise a firm order for the first group of new Airbus jets by mid-2022, to reduce fuel burn by an estimated 20%, while the low-cost Jetstar will take delivery of the first of 18 Airbus A321LR aircraft in July. As well, Qantas International is progressively introducing Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in place of its now-retired Boeing 747-400s, has reduced its fleet of Airbus A380s and, as part of ‘Project Sunrise’ plans to fly nonstop services from eastern Australia to London and New York, and has flagged an order for ultra-long-range and fuel-efficient Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. On the ground too, the company is aiming for further efficiencies including the electrification of vehicles where possible and, from this year, the use of 100% renewable electricity to power all Qantas Group buildings in Australia.

Recognising the interim requirement to use offset programmes to achieve carbon reduction targets, Qantas has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and the Japanese oil and gas exploration company Inpex Corporation to evaluate a project in Western Australia which would combine carbon farming and renewable biofuels in the Wheatbelt region, an area of equivalent size to Belgium. The project will rely upon collaboration between the three companies, landowners and rural communities.

“It provides an opportunity to support reforestation and decarbonisation using drought-resilient native tree crops, integrated with existing farming systems,” said the airline. “Having completed an extensive initial assessment of the carbon farming project, the parties will undertake a more detailed feasibility study into the harvesting and processing of native biomass crops and selected agricultural waste residues to produce low-carbon renewable biofuels. Under the MoU, the first planting of native trees is expected to take place in the [southern hemisphere] winter of 2023.”

Qantas Group Chairman Richard Goyder added: “It’s exciting to see technological advances overseas, particularly in the development of sustainable aviation fuel. Australia already produces significant amounts of feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel, but exports it to other countries. In the future, these feedstocks could be used to build a domestic industry, creating jobs and fuel security here in Australia. It’s not just a huge opportunity, it is the right thing to do. Achieving net zero emissions targets will not be easy and it will take sustained and cooperative action by everyone at the Qantas Group, as well as the entire global aviation value chain, governments and investors. Supportive government policy is critical for the aviation industry to transition to low and zero-emissions technologies.”        

Goyder’s remarks echoed those of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Alliance of Australia and New Zealand (SAFAANZ), an advocacy group which has just released a report titled ‘Bridging The Price Gap For Sustainable Aviation Fuel’ to support the urgent creation of a SAF industry in Australia.

The report recommends an initial SAF blending mandate of 2.5% in Australia, increasing to 3% by 2030. A 2.5% requirement would require approximately 235 million litres of SAF to be integrated into the aviation fuel supply chain. This volume would be sufficient to warrant the construction of at least one SAF refinery in Australia, adds the report.

“Following the lead of the UK and its Jet Zero Council, Australia should immediately establish a Jet Council to connect the state and federal governments with aviation industry stakeholders to guide the ongoing development of sustainable aviation policies,” said Shahana McKenzie, CEO of industry group Bioenergy Australia, which established the SAFAANZ to highlight and push for local SAF production in both Australia and New Zealand, the latter having recently flagged plans to introduce a SAF blending mandate.

The group has 22 members from the aviation and energy sectors, among them Qantas, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia – the three largest airlines in the Australasian market – plus the region’s largest airport, Sydney Kingsford-Smith, the new Western Sydney Airport, which is due to open in 2026, and Boeing. Other members include major waste-to-fuels producer Neste and SAF specialists LanzaJet, World Fuel Services and Gevo.

“Robust policy frameworks and financial mechanisms are needed to unlock Australia’s SAF industry potential,” says the report, and recommended capital support and production subsidies, a national framework for voluntary purchasing by consumers and an emissions intensity scheme.

“As a priority,” said McKenzie, “the Jet Council would work with the various levels of government, along with key industry participants, to guide and support pathways for SAF research and development in Australia, as well as guide the design and implementation of policies to overcome existing barriers to SAF development.”

The SAF report has landed as the Australian government – globally criticised during Glasgow’s COP26 summit as a climate action laggard – prepares for a general election, in which the impact of climate change and the need to accelerate decarbonisation are expected to be key issues following recent catastrophic floods and bushfires. The report highlighted the Australian Bioenergy Roadmap, released late last year by the federal government, which identified the significant environmental benefits of SAF use and economic growth from SAF production. “The Bioenergy Roadmap showed that Australia could be producing 18% of the country’s aviation fuel market by 2030 if a favourable policy and market environment existed,” said SAFAANZ Chair Heidi Hauf, who is also Boeing’s Regional Sustainability Lead for Asia-Pacific.

“Australia could be the SAF capital of the Asia-Pacific region, if we act now,” added McKenzie. “Beyond emissions reduction, this initiative supports jobs in regional Australia, economic development and fuel security.”

Photo: Refuelling Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Asia-Pacific neighbours Qantas and Air New Zealand have announced significant new decarbonisation initiatives, both of them heavily reliant on sustainable aviation fuel and both advocating establishment of local SAF production, reports Tony Harrington. Qantas will purchase up to 30 million litres of blended SAF from bp for flights from London Heathrow Airport over a three-year period commencing early in 2022. The Australian airline has committed to buy an initial 10 million litres from early next year and has options to take the same volumes in 2023 and 2024 as part of a strategic partnership with the oil company. Air New Zealand has committed that by 2030, SAF will represent 10% of its total fuel uplift. It has also announced plans to set a new, science-based carbon reduction target, which requires an absolute reduction in emissions without reliance on carbon offsets. The carrier has also detailed a fleet renewal plan which promises a switch to electric of hydrogen propulsion for its regional flights by 2030.

Qantas is reinstating scheduled flights to London, following the Australian government’s recent decision to ease international border restrictions and increasing relaxation by state and territory governments of caps on international passenger arrivals. It will operate nonstop flights between London and Australia with Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and one-stop services from Heathrow to Australia via Singapore with Airbus A380s, which are now being recalled from storage. The SAF to be used by Qantas on these flights will be produced with certified bio feedstock from used cooking oil and, or, other waste products, and mixed with conventional jet fuel, representing about 15% of the airline’s total annual fuel uplift out of Heathrow, and cutting its flight carbon emissions by around 10%.

The airline is also actively discussing similar deals at other major international destinations, specifically referencing Los Angeles. SAF is not yet available in Australia, but Qantas said there was a strong case for local production, for which it intends to be the biggest customer.

“We know that climate change is incredibly important for our customers, employees and investors, and it is a major focus for the national carrier as we come out of a difficult couple of years,” said Andrew Parker, Chief Sustainability Officer for the Qantas Group. He said the use of sustainable aviation fuel was essential for the airline to meet its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and an interim target for 2030, for which a package of initiatives will be announced in the first half of 2022.

High among these will be confirmation of orders and purchase rights for up to 134 new Airbus A320neo and A220 family twinjets, which the airline has just nominated as its choice of replacement for its ageing fleet of Boeing 737-800s and Boeing 717s. Beginning with firm orders for 20 A321XLR and 20 A220-300 aircraft, with deliveries commencing in 2024, the deal will deliver fuel savings of 15-20% over the current domestic jet fleet, and commensurate reductions in emissions. Discussions with manufacturers also focused on the ability of the new jets to use sustainable aviation fuel as quickly as possible.

“Zero emission technology like electric aircraft or green hydrogen are still a very long way off for aviation, and even further away for long-haul flights like London to Australia,” said Parker. “SAF and high-quality carbon offsetting are therefore critical on the path to net zero. Aviation biofuels typically deliver around an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis compared to the jet fuel it is replacing and is the most significant tool airlines have to reduce their impact on the environment.” He reiterated the industry’s estimate that SAF will account for 65% of the decarbonisation measures needed for aviation to reach net zero 2050.

“The technology is already tried and tested and it can be used in the aircraft we have now,” stated Parker, “which is why government and industry overseas are investing heavily to build their own SAF industries. Given the importance of aviation to Australia, and the distances we travel, there’s a huge opportunity to build a local SAF industry here. The Qantas Group would be its biggest customer, and we’ve already committed AUD$50 million ($35m) in seed funding, but it’s going to take a concerted effort from industry and government to make this happen.”

Qantas is also one of nine oneworld alliance members which recently agreed collectively to introduce SAF on their flights from San Francisco, for a period of up to seven years, commencing in 2024. Although Qantas and its low-cost sibling Jetstar have operated demonstration flights using SAF, the BP deal at Heathrow is the first ongoing commitment by an Australian airline to use SAF on scheduled services. The airline said such volume deals were crucial to helping bring down the cost of SAF, currently around three times the price of conventional fossil fuels.

Martin Thomsen, Senior Vice President, Air bp, said the company aspired to become a leading supplier of sustainable aviation fuel. “We are committed to working with customers to scale up its use,” he added. “We believe it is one of the key routes to reducing carbon emissions in the aviation industry. Selling SAF to Qantas at London Heathrow demonstrates not only the aim of both companies towards decarbonising aviation, but also doing so at one of the most important airports in the world.”

Air New Zealand is in lock step with Qantas on the importance of sustainable aviation fuel, and in its newly-released 2021 Sustainability Report made clear that without SAF, it could not achieve its 2050 decarbonisation targets. In his foreword to the report, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, said the airline was in close discussion with the New Zealand government on developing domestic SAF production capacity, and had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to determine the feasibility of doing so, particularly for powering long-haul flights. The airline wants to see domestic SAF production occurring in five to seven years, and has called for the establishment of a public-private advisory body on aviation decarbonisation to consider and advise on the policy settings needed to make SAF available in New Zealand.  

Sir Jonathon Porritt, Chair of Air New Zealand’s Sustainability Advisory Panel, said: “Over the last couple of years, interest in sustainable aviation fuels has gone from a few niche players providing vanishingly small volumes to a rapidly-maturing global industry enthusiastically signed up to a target of providing 10% of the volumes required by 2030 – from a few millions of gallons to many billions in just eight years. As a small country at the end of the world, New Zealand will always be a price-taker. By 2030, it will be the big players in the industry who will be determining that price. The only way of managing that risk is for New Zealand to ensure its own, indigenous SAF capability – and that means taking big decisions in a clear and accountable way over the next couple of years.”

But unlike Qantas, Air New Zealand’s future fleet plan does include electric and hydrogen powered aircraft. Air New Zealand is actively progressing research into both as it seeks to replace its current fleet of Q300 turboprops, and has signed two MoUs to investigate alternatives, one with Airbus on hydrogen technologies and another with ATR Regional Aircraft on battery/hybrid designs. As well, partnerships are being formed with “future energy stakeholders” to enable both battery-electric and green hydrogen operations.

“To truly decarbonise aviation, we’ll need both SAF and battery-electric, hybrid design, and/or hydrogen-electric aircraft,” says the airline’s sustainability report. “Our ambition is to be operating these zero-emission aircraft on our regional network from 2030, or as soon as feasible. New Zealand has a unique opportunity to be a world leader in the adoption of zero-emissions aircraft given the country’s high percentage of renewable energy. These aircraft will also have the potential to enable us to operate new, shorter routes, increasing connectivity for regional New Zealand.”

Air New Zealand has just phased out its fleet of Boeing 777-200ER aircraft and has announced it will retire its larger B777-300ERs by 2027. It already operates next-generation B787-9 aircraft on medium- and long-haul routes, and will add larger B787-10s. The airline has also introduced narrowbody Airbus A320neo jets, will introduce A321neos in 2022 and is adding more ATR 72-600 turboprops for regional services.

Additionally, to incrementally reduce fuel burn, Air New Zealand is progressing a programme to optimise aircraft cabin weights, while on the ground it is increasing the use of electric power units and pre-conditioned air to help reduce the use of aircraft auxiliary power units and cut their emissions.

The airline has also set an ambitious target to divert 65% of its waste away from landfill disposal by 2023 – a substantial increase from the 41.3% it prevented from going to landfill in 2021 – through development and implementation of new waste minimisation initiatives. Among these is a programme called Future Aircraft Cabin Experience (FACE), which includes removing 28 million single-use plastic items each year, adoption of flight weight reduction targets, and increased use of redesigned catering items made from lightweight and renewable sources. 

In the airline’s sustainability report, Porritt said sustainability measures by airlines needed to be meaningful – not just talk. “All airlines’ social licence to operate will now become increasingly hard to earn and increasingly dependent on actions, not on fine words,” he said. “For most people, it may previously have been a rhetorical flourish to talk about sustainability as mission-critical for airlines. Now it’s for real – as in which airlines will survive and which won’t.”

Note: This article was updated on December 17 to reflect new Airbus order by Qantas

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Qantas, Australia’s largest airline, has announced a broad suite of initiatives to help reduce its environmental impact and that of its customers, including a new ‘Green tier’ in its loyalty programme to reward members for sustainable purchases and behaviours, and plans for its first major purchase of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help reduce directly the emissions of its aircraft, reports Tony Harrington. The airline has also foreshadowed a “significant update” early next year of plans for interim decarbonisation targets by 2030, as part of its existing commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Additionally, Qantas has announced that by mid-2022 it will place firm orders for more than 100 new lower-emission narrowbody jets to replace its current fleet of Boeing 737-800s and 717s on domestic routes. The airline has already committed A$50 million ($35m), partnered with BP and engaged with industry and government to help progress establishment of a SAF production capability in Australia.

Qantas Group Chief Executive Alan Joyce said the airline was intensifying its commitment to reduce carbon emissions, not just through its own actions but also by encouraging more sustainable behaviours by its customers. Research by the airline found that almost two-thirds of its frequent flyers wanted to be more aware of how their actions affected the environment and how to reduce their impact, while 11% of passengers currently used the airline’s Fly Carbon Neutral programme to offset emissions attributable to their air travel.

The new Green tier, said by Qantas to be to the first airline loyalty initiative to incentivise more sustainable living, will be introduced early in the new year, to “educate, encourage and reward” its 13 million frequent flyers for actions ranging from offsetting their shares of flight emissions to using eco-hotels, installing solar panels on their homes, walking to work and contributing to the protection of Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, which has suffered serious degradation attributed to climate change. A calculator on the airline’s Frequent Flyer website will also enable members to estimate emissions from their home or car, and elect to offset them on a yearly basis.

“This new Green tier is a way of encouraging and recognising those who want to do their part by offering Qantas points or status credits, which we know helps shape customer choices,” said Joyce.

To achieve Green tier status, frequent flyers will be required to complete at least five sustainable activities each year across six categories – flying, travel, lifestyle, sustainable purchases, reducing impact and giving back. As each target is met, bonus Qantas points or status credits will be earned, in addition to rewards gained through existing frequent flyer status or through the Qantas Points Club. “If just 100,000 frequent flyers offset their home and car emissions for a year,” explained the airline, “the initiative could see a reduction of more than 1 million tonnes of carbon, the same amount that would be saved from installing 170,000 rooftop solar panels.”

As one of the largest private sector buyers of Australian carbon credits, Qantas plans to use the customer investments in offsets to support more environmental and conservation projects, both domestically and internationally, including restoring local inland ecosystems, reforestation, indigenous fire management projects in Arnhem Land, in Australia’s far north, and the establishment of wind farms in developing nations.   

The airline also plans to enable its frequent flyers to contribute towards direct decarbonisation through the purchase of sustainable aviation fuel, a practice which has taken off in North America and Europe, where corporations buy SAF to help compensate for the carbon emissions of business flights taken by their employees or freight flights used to obtain supplies or dispatch products.  

“Offsetting is one of the main ways Australia can reduce its net emissions in the short to medium term until new, low-emission technology becomes available,” said Joyce. “We’re looking at structural changes to reduce our greenhouse gases, including investment in more efficient aircraft that can cut emissions by 15% and using sustainable aviation fuel that typically cuts it by up to 80%. In Europe and the United States there’s a growing sustainable aviation fuel sector that proves the potential for Australia to create one of its own. We’re having conversations with the rest of the industry and governments on how we kickstart that.”

“In the meantime,” he added, “we are finalising our first significant purchase of sustainable aviation fuel.” Joyce did not specify the source or the composition of the SAF.

Perhaps the largest operational and sustainability initiative currently being undertaken by Qantas is the replacement of its ageing domestic fleet of narrowbody Boeing 737-800 and 717 twinjets, a decision on which will be made by the end of this year, ahead of the placement of formal orders by mid-2022. Four new aircraft types are in contention – the Boeing 737 MAX, the Airbus A320/321neo, the smaller Airbus A220 and the Embraer E190/195 E2. Compared to the jets which will be replaced, all of the new aircraft models offer vastly greater flying range and lower fuel burn, emissions and noise. One large and one smaller model are expected to be chosen to maximise operating flexibility, with deliveries commencing in 2023 and extending over 10 years. 

“We’re calling this Project Winton after the birthplace of Qantas in outback Queensland, because this is a foundational decision for the future of our domestic operations,” said Joyce. “Not only will these aircraft deliver a step-change in reducing fuel burn and carbon emissions by up to around 15%, we’re talking to each of the manufacturers about how we can accelerate the development and use of sustainable aviation fuels for our domestic flying.”

The Qantas Group has an existing order for 109 Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft, most of which will go to its low-cost brand Jetstar to replace older A320 jets. Qantas International will also receive three more fuel-efficient Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners from 2023, while Project Sunrise, a plan for nonstop flights between eastern Australia and both London and New York remains in the airline’s sights, for commencement from 2024-25, again with ultra-efficient widebody jets. Like many other expansion plans proposed by airlines, Sunrise was suspended by Qantas when the Covid pandemic erupted.  

Photo: Qantas intends replacing its Boeing 737-800 aircraft