SAUDIA

Sustainability Overview

In 2016, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) launched the ambitious Vision 2030 programme. Essentially, Vision 2030 is a roadmap for the future of Saudi Arabia with sustainability at the heart of everything the Kingdom does, from policy development and investment to planning and infrastructure. With more than 20 planned projects of massive scale, Vision 2030 aims to transform the Kingdom’s economy and society, while moving it away from its oil-dependent roots. In 2021, the Kingdom as a whole committed to reaching net zero by 2060

Unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA), the Kingdom’s flag carrier, is set to play a major role in the country’s transformation. Since sustainability has been at the heart of Vision 2030 since its inception, it has been at the top of the airline’s agenda as well. Currently, there’s a large-scale effort underway to ensure that the airline moves towards a sustainable future.

In 2022, SAUDIA was at the forefront of some promising achievements. As a participant in the SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge (TSFC), it was the first airline to operate the world’s longest net-positive flight on May 12, by offsetting a total of 346 tons of carbon emissions, including radiative forcing impacts by a factor of two, for flight SV227 from Jeddah to Madrid.

On the same flight, SAUDIA also led the world’s in-flight sustainability lab. It involved guests on the flight submitting ideas on how air travel could become greener. Each guest and staff member inflight were also asked to contribute suggestions while airborne. This later won the highest award in the Customer Engagement category of the flight challenge.

That’s not all. The airline also offset 100% of SAUDIA flights to London for the Formula E race weekend in July and is committed to do more in the sustainability sphere. Recently, it became one of the the five leading Saudi Arabian business partners of the MENA regional Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). It is also the first in the MENA region to invest in sustainable air mobility with plans to purchase 100 all-electric Lilium Jets (eVTOL) and support certification across the region.

And this is just the beginning.

Meet The Changemaker

Yaser Farhood is General Manager, Operations Projects at SAUDIA. His role includes a mandate to initiate, lead, and manage a sustainability roadmap preparing the airline’s journey towards net-zero operations by 2050.

Mr. Farhood’s professional background includes more than 35 years of aviation experience in both aviation safety and operations. During the pandemic, in April 2020, Mr. Farhood led SAUDIA’s Restart Operations working group and implemented safety measures for COVID-19. In September 2021, in addition to his role as General Manager Operations Projects, Mr. Farhood has been assigned the duties and responsibilities of the VP Environment & Sustainability.

“Our airline is aware of the aviation industry’s 2050 commitment to net zero and is wasting no time in planning and implementing green initiatives”, says Mr Farhood. “We know that no matter how small or simple, every little bit counts.”

Opportunities And Challenges

Mr Farhood recalls how the in-flight sustainability lab in May 2022 was a game changer and crucial in getting the sustainability message across to everyone, right from the crew to every single passenger on the flight. Each passenger was given three post-it notes (printed on recycled paper), where they wrote down their suggestions, before handing the notes back to the cabin crew.

The in-flight lab was mirrored by a similar ‘ideas initiative’ that took place at SAUDIA’s headquarters in Jeddah, involving the airline’s employees.

“The results were just fantastic and really gave us insight into what our guests, the passengers, think when it comes to solutions. We enjoyed having our guests be a part of the conversation”, says Mr. Farhood.

On the flight, the airline also introduced local farm products and farm-to-table offerings onboard, in order to deliver sustainable, locally sourced meal offerings on board. The local aspect is important, as it showcases the massive variety of local products available from within Saudi Arabia, not to mention the freshness and reduction of environmental impact. Moreover, as part of the Sustainable Flight Challenge (TSFC), SAUDIA designed its inflight menu using sustainable ingredients in partnership with local company, “Red Sea Farms”. The farm uses salt water and sunlight-based agriculture systems.

Furthermore, during the period when Covid-19 safety measures were introduced, SAUDIA introduced an all-digital, paperless solution for passengers. “This has been a great success ever-since, considering that the airline has close to 600 takeoffs daily”, asserts Mr Farhood. “We have also had a completely all-digital card for our Al Fursan privilege card members for more than five years now.”

Harnessing The Power Of Partnerships

Collaboration and successful partnerships are SAUDIA’s strengths, and as the official airline partner of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the airline is a contributor to the sustainability goals of the motorsport series.

As part of the airline’s sustainability initiatives and in support of its partnership, SAUDIA operated a full weekend schedule of flights which had 100% of unavoidable scope 1 carbon emissions offset from Riyadh and Jeddah to London Heathrow last July.

SAUDIA offset the unavoidable scope 1 carbon emissions for the flights, including radiative forcing impacts by a factor of 1.9 by an enviro-tech company “CarbonClick”, who also facilitated the airline’s world’s longest net-positive flight as part of the SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge.

With a flight time of 6 hours 55 minutes between Riyadh and London Heahthrow and 6 hours 15 minutes between Jeddah and London Heathrow, the routes are among the longest carbon-neutral flights worldwide.

The flights were offset via a Gold Standard approved and CORSIA certified wind power carbon offsetting scheme in India. The project will replace carbon intensive coal powered electricity with clean, renewable wind power.

“This was a true group effort”, recalls Mr Farhood. “It required a number of crossfunctional teams coming together to deliver a first for the airline – operating a total of 10 flights back-to-back on a net-zero basis.”

Looking Ahead

SAUDIA has introduced just under ten new routes in the last year. “We are on a mission to ensure the airline’s growth accelerates with as minimal environmental impact as possible”, emphasises Mr. Farhood. “We believe utilizing technology, innovation and the digital experience will provide massive returns not just environmentally, but in safety as well.”

As part of SAUDIA’s transformational journey, one in particular that holds a sizable impact is the aircraft fleet upgrade programme. The current fleet of just under 150 narrow and widebody aircraft has undergone a revitalisation with new aircraft cycled in to replace older ones.

In addition, a retrofit project has remodeled the entire cabin to embed new technology and state-of-the-art equipment. SAUDIA aims to have one of the youngest fleets in the world. The benefits, of course, include significantly lower emissions – and a consequently better environmental footprint – compared to the older fleet.

Meanwhile, in October 2022, SAUDIA signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announcement with Lilium to purchase up to 100 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jets.

Saudi Arabia’s first-ever eVTOL service in its history will serve a growing passenger segment looking to make expedient journeys to both congested airports and remote locations. Given Saudi Arabia’s diverse landscape and vast landmass, it makes sense for the airline to develop this new product, with the main advantage being its reduced environmental and noise impacts.

Mr Farhood is positive as he considers the flight path to sustainability for SAUDIA. “What the past year taught us is that where there is a will, there is always a way. We are proud of the entire team which took on challenges and collaborated to devise creative and effective solutions. It was all new territory for us, and this only paves the way forward and gives us the confidence to continue on this green trajectory”, he concludes.

Flying is about dreaming. It’s about bringing down obstacles and barriers. Avianca has been around for over 100 years and has faced the fiercest challenges one can imagine. For me, the main inspiration is to be part of a team that will make sure Avianca will prevail while facing the most difficult challenge of all: Sustainability.

Felipe Andrés Gómez Vivas Director of Sustainability and Institutional Relations at Avianca