Monday 8 November 2021

Virgin Australia commits to net zero by 2050

Airline Virgin Australia has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

The pledge follows it becoming the first airline in Australia to test sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in its supply chain.

The airline has also looked to substantially reduce its onboard waste and continue to offset hard-to-abate emissions.

Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO, said: “While SAF is an essential piece of the puzzle, there’s a lot more to it than that. We have to look at every single lever in the mix of emissions and offsets to try to get as close to net zero emissions well before 2050, wherever that's possible.

“Every single day we have single use plastics that are used in parts of our operation – we need to get rid of that entirely. Making sure we’re using recyclable items, making sure all of our ground activity is done with zero emissions and we’re using sustainable fuels throughout our processes – wherever that’s possible.

“Working with all of our partners to ensure [this] end-to-end. We’re thinking through supply chain opportunities [and] offsetting our carbon emissions where that’s practical and feasible to do.”