Five noteworthy aviation sustainability developments in the past seven days curated by the Ishka SAVi team.
Here are the new developments to keep in mind:
1. Aircastle becomes second lessor to back United Sustainable Venture Fund investor - United on 14th February announced that lessor Aircastle has become the latest aircraft leasing entity to join its United Airlines Ventures (UAV) Sustainable Flight Fund, a fund of 22 corporate partners backing emission reductions through SAF investments in start-ups. Other companies announced in this latest round of new partners include Air New Zealand, Embraer, Google, HIS, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Safran Corporate Ventures, and Technip Energies. With this latest round, the fund now has more than $200 million in backing since its inception in February 2023, of which nearly $500,000 has been contributed by United’s customers. Aircastle’s addition means two lessors (the other being Aviation Capital Group) have backed the UAV fund.
2. Airbus’ Faury comments on future aircraft programmes, including ZEROe – Airbus at its annual results press conference on 15th February gave away some details on the evolution of its product line-up. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury commented that the A320 Family replacement due to be introduced “in the second half of the next decade” will not be a stretch of an existing aircraft family (understood to mean the A220 Family) but rather “a new platform” that will be a “100% SAF” airplane. Faury also said that Airbus is currently on the “test phase” for both its future A320 Family replacement as well as its ZEROe hydrogen aircraft programme, and stressed that they are “different projects.” He further added that the hydrogen aircraft set to come to the market “by 2035” will be on the “low-end of the market […] a place that will not compete with the rest of our product range […] we could then scale-up [the hydrogen concept] depending on success and time from that position.”
3. Operator, OEM and… why not lessor? Surf Air creates leasing partnership - Surf Air Mobility, which is both developing proprietary electrified powertrain technology and developing a US operator network to use them, announced on 15th February joint plans to develop “a leasing partnership” with electric short take-off and landing (eSTOL) manufacturer Electra. The partnership will market the Electra eSTOL aircraft through Surf Air’s air mobility platform as well as its Aircraft-as-a-Service (ACaaS) leasing programme to other operators. Surf Air has also secured early delivery positions for 90 Electra eSTOL aircraft for integration into its subsidiary airlines Southern Airways Express and Mokulele Airlines. According to the SAVi New Propulsion Tracker, Surf Air Mobility – in addition to plans to operate clean propulsion aircraft in the US domestic market – has secured commitments for nearly 500 of its proprietary powertrains.
4. Land of the rising tech: What is Japan working on? – The UK’s Royal Aeronautical Society, the oldest professional not-profit society of its kind and a major aerospace community, has published a detailed interview with Shigeya Watanabe, Deputy Director General of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Aviation Technology Directorate and Naoki Matayoshi, Director of its Aviation Integration Innovation Hub to learn more about the research organisation’s current programmes. The interview is one of the most detailed summaries to date (in English, at least) of aviation sustainable technology projects in Japan, from ultra-low NOx propulsion to the development of a hybrid-electric narrowbody and research into future fuels.
5. European Parliament takes aim at offsetting – A draft for an upcoming EU Green Claims Directive received a favourable vote in two committees at the European Parliament on 14th February and is now set to be put to a vote at an upcoming plenary session. The draft will shape the Parliament’s position on the rules on how firms can validate their environmental marketing claims, including on carbon offsetting (a common practice by airlines and one often offered as an opt-in for passengers). In a press note, the Parliament said MEPs specify that companies could still mention offsetting schemes “if they have already reduced their emissions as much as possible” and use these schemes “for residual emissions only.” The full ramifications of the draft directive for airlines remain to be explored, but it appears it could limit how offsets for air travel could be marketed. On a related note, nonprofit climate publication Grist spotlighted carbon removals (not offsets) this week on the back of Taylor Swift’s infamous private jet use, reflecting on their market-oriented approach.
