Madrid, November 24, 2022. – The Iberian Business Travel Association (IBTA) has awarded Air France and KLM the award for Best Practices in Sustainability in Air Transport, for their corporate SAF programme, during their annual awards ceremony on Thursday, 17 November.
The awards jury highlighted the “commitment of Air France and KLM to the sustainability of air transport and in particular the implementation of programmes, services and tools to promote, produce, use and develop sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). In this sense, the pursuit of collaboration and involvement of client companies in the process of adopting this fuel The sustainable development and know-how goes far beyond the usual procedures of other airlines. Credit also goes to Ficosa, for believing in and betting on this initiative and for becoming the first Spanish company to join SAF’s institutional investment programme.”
“Many thanks to IBTA for this award, which is recognition of the efforts of Air France and KLM to accelerate our environmental transformation and to be a benchmark for a more sustainable airline industry. This is also an award for the first Spanish company, Ficosa, to join our programme, making this environmental commitment its own. We are confident that many others will take this step forward.” announced Asuncion Perez, KLM France’s Sales Director for Spain.
The IBTA Business Travel & MICE Awards annually recognize best practices for both business travel managers (travel managers) and the entire value chain that makes up the business tourism and corporate events sector. In 2022, the fifth edition of these awards, the most important in the sector, will be held in Spain, with a jury made up of experts in the sector. In this version, 18 awards have been awarded.
The Air France-KLM Corporate SAF program encourages companies to play an active role in a greener future of travel. Through this programme, customers of Air France and KLM can, after estimating the CO2 emissions associated with their flights, decide what annual contribution they would like to allocate to said programme.
Customers can also voluntarily contribute to the purchase of SAF, making a contribution through the websites of both companies.
Air France-KLM is committed to investing these contributions in the supply and use of sustainable fuels for aviation. As demand increases, the group aims to play a role in developing the supply chains needed to enable widespread adoption of sustainable fuels by 2030.
So far, companies such as Ficosa, Betours or Icárion have joined the SAF Corporate program in Spain, as well as Airpharm Logistics SAU and Acciona Forwarding in the freight area.
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In addition to reducing the use of the fuel itself, the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is, by far, one of the most efficient measures in the medium term to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft and air travel.
SAF can reduce CO2 emissions by an average of 80% compared to conventional fuels during its lifecycle and requires no engine modification.
Today, SAF (also known as second generation SAF) can be made from used cooking oil, waste, or agricultural and forestry residues. In the future, sustainable synthetic aviation fuels made from hydrogen and carbon captured from the atmosphere will also be available.
Global SAF production remains very low (in 2021, SAF production accounted for 0.01% of global kerosene consumption), resulting in 3-4 times higher than kerosene prices.
The Air France-KLM group has been investing in the experiences and use of sustainable aviation fuels for more than 15 years. In 2011, KLM operated the world’s first commercial flight supported in part by SAF, while Air France launched the “Lab Line for the Future” in 2014, a two-year trial during which 78 flights between Paris-Orly, Toulouse and Paris-Orly were completed. Partly supplying the city of Nice with sustainable aviation fuel.
About IBTA
Founded in 1989, the Iberian Business Travel Association (IBTA) is the largest Spanish association of travel managers and the most important entity in the business tourism sector. IBTA is also a partner in the Iberian Peninsula of GBTA – Global Business Travel Association – the leading global organization for business travel and corporate meetings. GBTA serves a network of many business travel professionals through industry-leading events, networking, professional development, research, news, and advocacy. Members of the association are corporate and government travel and event managers, as well as travel service providers. Together they represent a global industry of more than 30 million business travelers.
About KLM Air France
Air France-KLM is a major player in the air transport industry with strong European roots. The main activities of the Air France-KLM group are passenger and cargo air transportation and aviation maintenance.
The group is one of the major players in terms of international traffic from Europe, especially from the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol hubs. It offers its customers an extensive global airline network with 310 destinations thanks to Air France, KLM KLM and Transavia.
The Flying Blue loyalty program is one of the leading programs in Europe with over 17 million members.
Air France-KLM operates with its partners Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic the largest transatlantic joint venture with more than 340 daily flights in 2019. Air France-KLM is a member of the SkyTeam alliance of 18 airlines, giving access to a wide range of A global network offering its customers a seamless and high-quality travel experience.
In Spain, this winter season both airlines operate flights from 7 airports (Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Malaga, Seville and Valencia) to Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam – Schiphol.
Recognized for 18 years as a leader in sustainable development, the Air France-KLM group is determined to accelerate the transition to more sustainable aviation. Since 2003, the Air France-KLM group has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact. It endorses its commitments and principles and is willing to contribute significantly, in line with its activities, to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Air France-KLM group’s environmental strategy is included in the destination’s sustainability. The group’s two main goals are: to reduce CO2 emissions per passenger/km by 30% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, and to achieve net CO2 emissions by 2050. The decarbonization of all its activities is based on four main pillars: fleet renewal and research The development of sustainable aviation fuels, environmental leadership and the combination of different modes of transportation. @airfranceklm.com
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