Sustainable Aero Lab launches Net-Zero Airline Ranking
Full report including infographics on https://www.airline-ranking.com/
Hamburg, 21 August 2024—To empower airline executives, investors, regulators, and the public, the first-ever Net-Zero Airline Ranking is released today. It assesses the commitment of the world’s 20 largest airline groups to achieving a net-zero aviation future.
This ranking, developed by Sustainable Aero Lab (in partnership with Research+Attitude), aims to bring transparency and accountability to the airline industry’s sustainability debate.
Airlines' Net-Zero Commitment Results
The Q2 2024 Net-Zero Airline Ranking reveals a sobering reality: the airline industry is significantly off track from meeting the Paris Agreement goals. Despite the net-zero announcement communicated during IATA's 77th Annual General Meeting in 2021, genuine commitment to net-zero ambitions remains largely limited across the board.
Despite the overall disappointing performance, two airline groups stand out relative to their peers:
United Airlines tops the ranking with a 62% Net-Zero Rate, demonstrating the highest level of commitment among the world's 20 largest airlines. United leads with substantial SAF offtake agreements, a dedicated Climate Fund worth 200 million USD, and the most investments in startups developing technologies for sustainable aviation.
Air France-KLM follows in second place, leading the European airline industry. This ranking is driven by Air France-KLM's highest share of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in its current jet fuel mix. Notably, Air France-KLM is the only major airline in the world already using more than 1% SAF in its annual jet fuel consumption, bolstered by France’s stringent SAF mandates.
The lack of net-zero commitments across the airline industry poses a severe threat to the climate and aviation's social license to operate in the coming decades. The climate crisis will only intensify, and industries failing to adapt will find it increasingly challenging to continue business as usual.
These takeaways underscore the urgent need for more genuine and comprehensive net-zero strategies within the airline industry.
For more information, please visit our Methodology Page and explore the detailed findings of the Q2 2024 Net-Zero Airline Ranking on airline-ranking.com.
Sustainable Aero Lab will continue to watch the development in the industry and update the Net-Zero Airline Ranking regularly. The first update will be released with an in-depth keynote at the Sustainable Aero Festival on December 2nd & 3rd, 2024. Register for this exclusive event while seats are available here: Sustainable Aero Festival.
About Sustainable Aero Lab
Sustainable Aero Lab is the leading accelerator program for startups in sustainable aviation, having worked with over 80 companies worldwide since its inception in 2021. The Lab brings together startups with high-ranking mentors from aviation, business, and venture capital in live sessions several times a year. Sustainable Aero Lab also serves as an unbiased think tank to discuss and analyze decarbonization activities in commercial aviation. The project is supported by IFB Hamburg, Embraer-X and Breakthrough Energy.