Business Aviation Under Pressure

The past year has seen increased private jet flight shaming. This has been directed against celebrities and business tycoons, who have been called out for perceived excessive private jet use

Environmental groups have turned up at business aviation terminals more regularly. Banning private jets is one of their three demands, along with a frequent flyer tax and enhanced carbon taxation for aviation.

Crucially, these protests have taken place in the United States and Europe and have also involved the disruption of industry conferences.

The activists are doing this to advance wider arguments about aviation and climate change. General and business aviation is simply being painted as the poster child for a sector that they see benefitting relatively few people while emitting much carbon.

Amsterdam Schiphol’s Airport recently became the first major hub airport

to ban private jets (from 2025). This was one of a series of “people first” measures, including a night flight curfew. Greenpeace and other environmental groups have celebrated this as a success.

In France, there are discussions to place a 70% tax on private jets. French Govt spokespeople justify this as a measure that affects few people but helps cut industry emissions.

At the same time, some left-leaning political parties in Europe have been trying to introduce anti-private jet legislation.

The industry is responding in one of two ways. The first is to show that business aviation does not account for many emissions when measured as a % of the total. This approach will need to be more effective.

The second is positioning the sector as a hothouse of new non-fossil fuel technologies. This is a much more promising road to go down.

The major private jet operators and charter companies have a variety of sustainability programmes in place. Primarily they consist of 100%+ offsetting and the ability to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Out of the private jet manufacturers, Embraer is working towards a post-2030 hybrid-electric aircraft concept suitable for business aviation. Meanwhile, Gulfstream and Embraer are both working towards 100% SAF certification for their existing jets.

There are several next-generation aircraft manufacturers producing executive versions of their planes, notably Eviation with the ‘Alice,’ eVTOLs or air taxis will also have a business aviation appeal, though for relatively short distances.

Given that the aircraft flying right now are not 100% SAF certified and the supply is unevenly distributed, there are corporate book-and-claim systems in operation.

Overall, we conclude that the targets the business aviation sector sets are not ambitious enough, especially given public sentiment and the pressure from policymakers.

If business aviation wants to be a test bed for newer technologies and non-fossil-fuel flight, there needs to be a much more radical programme in place.

PRIVATE JETS ARE 50X MORE POLLUTING THAN TRAINS

According to European NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) private jets are five to fourteen times more polluting than commercial planes on a per-passenger basis and 50 times more polluting than trains.

T&E advocates banning fossil-fuel-powered private jets from 2030 for journeys under 1000 km and a high carbon tax in the interim.

If anything, that’s a more moderate demand than most climate change groups, who want to see private jets banned completely.

The backdrop to this has been a year of sustained protests and activity against business aviation and private jet users. This has seen business aviation framed as a sign of wasteful excess by the ultra-rich, contributing to climate change.

For example, the Summer of 2022 saw many celebrities branded “climate criminals” on social media for flying on private jets, often for relatively short distances.

Then in late 2022 and early 2023, environmental campaigners turned up at private aviation terminals worldwide, calling for private jets to be banned for climate reasons.

Finally, in April 2023, environmentalists celebrated their first significant victory when Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport announced that private jets would be banned from 2025.

Why is private aviation getting so much criticism when industry spokespeople constantly point out that its total share of emissions is low compared to commercial airlines?

What response should the sector be taking? Is there scope for business aviation to become a sustainable aviation laboratory where new technologies are tested first? And which next-generation aircraft makers are developing executive jets?

These are all points we will address in this report from SimpliFlying.

Source: Transport & Environment (2021). Private jets: can the super rich supercharge zero-emission aviation?

CELEBRITY JET FLIGHTS GENERATE BACKLASH

In July 2022, as much of the Global North was facing record Summer temperatures, Kylie Jenner posted a now-deleted picture on Instagram.

It showed her and rapper Travis Scott standing in front of two private jets with the caption, “You wanna take mine or yours?”

The post generated a backlash. On social media, many pointed out that Jenner often used her jet for journeys of 15 minutes or less.

People knew this, thanks to the celebrity jet tracker accounts on Twitter (these were subsequently suspended after Elon Musk bought the network, given that his jet was tracked.)

Following on from Jenner’s July 2022 flight, TikTok user eryn810 posted a viral video showing that many celebrities were burning the equivalent in carbon in a single flight that the average American does in a year.

And it’s not only in the US that celebrity jet users have been facing questions. For example, Christian Galtier, coach of French football/soccer club Paris St Germain and the team’s star striker Kylian Mbappe came under fire in September for laughing when asked in a press conference about their private jet use.

Then, private jet-related criticism has extended to business leaders. This includes Bill Gates, who invests in decarbonisation technologies through his Breakthrough Energies fund.

This comes after a Seattle High School student used publicly available data to show that Bill Gates took 392 private jet flights in 2022, emitting over 3000 tonnes of carbon (Gates’s response was that he buys carbon capture credits via direct air capture company Climeworks.)

Other prolific private jet users identified in the ‘Climate Jets’ table include the Murdoch family (4000+ tonnes of carbon), Mike Bloomberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and rapper Pitbull.

With that mood music in place, climate change groups have been zeroing in on the business aviation sector.

Source: climatejets.org

PROTESTS AT PRIVATE JET TERMINALS ARE ON THE RISE

In a coordinated action on 11 November 2022, climate activists blockaded eleven private jet terminals worldwide.

The biggest was at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, where protestors from Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion staged a six-hour runway sit-in. There was also activity in Italy, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Norway, France, and the United States.

The inclusion of the United States in this day of action was noteworthy. The USA has largely been spared the kind of airport-related direct action seen in Europe.

But this time, activists turned up at airports such as Teterboro, New Jersey (a private jet centre for the New York City area) and the private jet terminal of Charlotte-Douglas international airport.

There, Peter Kalmus, a NASA scientist in the climate group “Scientist Rebellion,” was arrested after chaining himself to the terminal doors.

Source: Stay Grounded

That November day of action was followed up by a subsequent one on Valentine’s Day 2023 in many of the same countries, including the United States.

As well as turning up at airports, campaigners have taken things one step further and started disrupting business aviation industry events. In Brussels, activists walked on stage during the AIR OPS 2023 business aviation conference, unfurling a banner which read

“Make them Pay.” Meanwhile, London’s Corporate Jet Investor Conference saw disruption from protestors.

Answering questions about why they disrupted the conference, climate group Fossil Free London said that business aviation is:

“An obscene waste of carbon and it should not exist….there is absolutely no justification for private jet flights, in a world where ordinary people are struggling to afford enough heat and energy and food just to survive. It is completely unacceptable for anyone to produce the level of emissions that come from private jet flights.”

We’ve heard from one industry source that this has resulted some business aviation event organisers to consider hosting future events in secret, with no pre-publicity about the venue or attendees.

Source: Stay Grounded

WHY ARE CLIMATE GROUPS DOING THIS? IT’S NOT REALLY ABOUT PRIVATE JETS

Why is all this happening? After all, the business aviation industry points to the sector being only responsible for 2% of aviation and 0.04% of total CO2 emissions. They use these two statistics to try and contextualise the issue and question why the sector comes in for so much criticism.

Climate groups are well aware of the fact that banning private jets wouldn’t move the needle much in terms of aviation’s share of emissions.

Instead, they have been focused on business aviation as it’s a way to highlight a range of other arguments about air travel and global warming:

Very few people take private jets. Not even most airline frequent flyers use private jets. It’s a sector that does not impact 99%+ of the travelling public.

A protest in front of a private jet terminal doesn’t inconvenience the family flying to Tenerife. They don’t feel attacked, as private jet users are a world away from their everyday reality.

As we showed earlier, the established narrative around private jets is often now about celebrities, billionaires like Musk and Bezos, excess, accusations of hypocrisy (e.g, Bill Gates), wasteful and unnecessary pollution.

Therefore, for climate change groups, business aviation sits at the apex of what they call “luxury emissions” – unlike “subsistence emissions”, these are seen to be inherently wasteful.

Similarly, frequent flyers – the most profitable segment of legacy airline customers – are also perceived symbols of luxury emissions.

This makes stopping private jets only one of three demands in (climate group) Stay Grounded’s “Make Them Pay” campaign – with the other two being a tax on frequent flyers and some kind of enhanced carbon pricing.

In the end, climate change activists don’t look at business aviation in isolation. It’s merely seen as the most carbon-intensive area of an already carbon-intensive industry.

PRIVATE JETS ALSO CAUSE NOISE POLLUTION

Carbon emissions are a big reason why private jet use has an increasing image problem. But there is also the issue of noise, with smaller aircraft, such as private jets, being seen to be more disruptive for local communities.

For example, commenting on the proposed expansion of John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, the LA Times blog ‘Daily Pilot’ claimed that:

“Rich private jet owners in the general aviation area will play by their rule book — flying more frequently and at all hours — and pass the cost, in terms of noise and pollution, onto the community below them.”

This is often a reason why business/general aviation is unpopular in urban areas.

At the other end of the United States, the Palm Beach (Florida) Post talked about “conversation-killing roars of take-offs and landings”, due to a 37% jump in private flights in 2022 compared to pre-COVID in 2019.

This comes as Palm Beach has been called ‘Wall Street South’, due to wealthy business executives commuting from their second homes in Florida back to New York for work.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the owners of Farnborough Airport, primarily Australian equity fund Macquarie, are focused on turning the airport into Europe’s premier business and private jet hub.

In response, a group of residents is lobbying against further expansion, citing noise concerns.

The group is calling for a curb on expansion, as well as a ban on what it sees as noisier private jets, such as the Challenger 350 and Piaggio Avanti.

POLITICAL PRESSURE ON THE BUSINESS AVIATION SECTOR

Recently, France’s aviation sector was in the news when the Government banned shorthaul flights on a very small selection of routes, the reasoning being that there was a fast rail (and less carbon-intensive) alternative that passengers could take. However, as well as clamping down on domestic passenger flights, there’s also pressure in France to ban or at least severely curtail private jet use.

Quoted in Euronews, French Government spokesperson Olivier Véran said:

“We can understand that a Frenchman who is careful in his daily life is shocked by the fact that some of his fellow citizens can take a private jet to make flea jumps.”

At the same time, Green MP Julien Bayou is part of an effort to introduce a bill in the French Parliament to ban private jets, saying that:

“It's the measure that penalises the least number of people for the greatest and most immediate impact in favour of the climate."

Though a total ban seems unlikely, the political headwinds are very much against the sector, and some kind of higher taxation seems likely, including a 70% ‘supertax.’

In Canada, that tax already exists as part of a wider push against luxury items, including private yachts.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, the left-wing party People Before Profit is introducing a private jet ban bill into the Irish Parliament (Dail). While the much larger Sinn Fein party, which currently leads in Irish opinion polls, proposes a €3000 tax per private jet flight. Finally, prior to the last UK General Election, the main opposition Labour Party was exploring plans to ban private jets from UK Airports from 2025, if it were to win.

It didn’t win, and the then leader Jeremy Corbyn has since been replaced with the more Centrist Keir Starmer. However, it would seem possible that the party still explores some kind of private jet tax were it to win the 2024 election.

The political environment, certainly in Europe, is becoming much more hostile to private jets. As French MP Julien Bayou said - it’s a climate change measure that simply doesn’t affect that many people.

SCHIPHOL BANS PRIVATE JETS UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE GOVERNMENT

On April 4th 2023, Greenpeace sent out the following tweet: “NICE. @Schiphol airport in the Netherlands will ban private jets because of the unfair levels of noise and pollution This follows excellent protests by @GreenpeaceNL and @NLRebellion One airport is not enough, now we need to #BanPrivateJets all over Europe”

As the tweet said, the reason for celebration was the decision by Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to stop private jets (from 2025) from using the airport, along with a night flight curfew and the scrapping of plans to build an additional runway.

Source: Greenpeace EU

In making the announcement, Royal Schiphol Group CEO Ruud Sondag said:

“I realise that our choices may have significant implications for the aviation industry, but they are necessary. This shows we mean business. It is the only way, based on concrete measures, to regain the trust of employees, passengers, neighbours, politics and society.” Schiphol’s main tenant KLM was less happy, saying in a statement that “We are astonished that Schiphol is unilaterally putting forward proposals that will have farreaching consequences for airlines, without involving the industry parties in this process,” Earlier in this document, we already mentioned the noise and here Schiphol’s private jet ban is being done for noise as well as emissions reasons. This is also why a night curfew will be put in place.

WHY THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BY SCHIPHOL WAS SIGNIFICANT

By itself, the Schiphol announcement won’t do much to stop private jet use. The business aviation sector can, and to a large extent already does, make use of other small nearby airports (which also offer the benefit of less congestion).

The significance is that for the first time, a major global hub airport has taken steps to ban private jets, and that announcement has made headlines worldwide.

Schiphol has opened the door for others to follow. It was the first, but it almost certainly won’t be the last.

THE RESPONSE FROM THE SECTOR IS MIXED

Business aviation spokespeople and bodies are responding in one of two ways:

One is to do something that is public relations 101 - putting the issue into context. The second is to highlight private aviation as a possible testing ground for decarbonisation solutions and technologies.

We can see both these approaches mentioned in a recent European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) press statement where the EBAA said that Greenpeace was using “misleading data about business aviation.”

In the statement the EBAA first of all stated that “Greenpeace systematically ignores the context of business aviation”

This context, according to the EBAA is that:

“In 2022, there were 14.4 million movements in regular aviation in Europe. In business aviation, there were only 1.5 million movements. Worldwide, business aviation represents 0.04 per cent of global CO2 emissions.”

Five or ten years ago, that might have been the correct approach, but now it’s not something we would advise that the private jet sector leads on for three reasons:

It’s not only about emissions, but as the Amsterdam example showed, also about noise

Aviation as a whole is growing, and so is private aviation. Even the EBAA admits a growth of 7% from 2019

As we discussed earlier, it’s not even so much about private aviation. More so that the sector is an obvious target for perception reasons.

The second defence that the EBAA uses is better, though. They say that “business aviation is a breeding ground for aviation sustainability.”

In particular, the statement says that:

“Companies are investing in new technologies, such as hybrid and electric planes. Earlier sustainable investments by our sector in fuel-saving winglets, lighter aircraft components, and more efficient engines have already been adopted by regular aviation.

“Currently, business aviation is the biggest advocate for using sustainable aviation fuel and more efficient flight routes.”

That’s good, and that’s the approach we would recommend leading on.

In fact, we would recommend going even further. If the sector truly is a ‘breeding ground for aviation sustainability’ as the EBAA says, the net zero goal should be more ambitious than the 2050 aviation industry target.

To do so, there should be an accelerated programme of SAF use and the introduction of next-generation aircraft technologies like hydrogen-electric and electric.

To understand the big picture better, we’ll now look at three different areas:

How large private jet operators deal with concerns around pollution and noise

What the major executive jet manufacturers are doing Opportunities for new aircraft that are not powered by fossil fuels

THE INITIAL RESPONSE FROM LARGE CORPORATE JET OPERATORS IS A GOOD START

Source: Victor

There are a number of companies which operate fleets of private jets on a shared ownership or charter basis. Let’s take a look at what they are doing in terms of sustainability.

Victor, which charters private jets for members, has two carbon reduction mechanisms:

The first is that it shows members the least fuel and CO2-intensive aircraft when presenting booking options, much in the same way as Google Flights now presents CO2 information when booking commercial flights.

The second is that Victor allows corporate members to buy the equivalent SAF from Neste to offset their flight.

That works under a so-called ‘book-and-claim’ system, where rather than the SAF being literally in the aircraft you are flying, you are buying the equivalent amount put into the system.

The best parallel is that it’s like a renewable energy electricity tariff for your home where your house isn’t powered by solar energy. Meanwhile, shared ownership operator Flexjet uses carbon offsetting, automatically offsetting all flights by 300% through the Sustainability 4Air programme.

JetFly claims to fly the least carbon-intensive private aircraft (the Pilatus PC-12) and offers clients the chance to offset their flights.

VISTAJET’S 2025 CARBON NEUTRALITY PLEDGE IS IMPRESSIVE

Probably the most comprehensive sustainability programme is the one from Vista Jet, which is one of the leaders in the business and private aviation sectors.

The company’s 2022 “action handbook for change”, which was put together with environmental consultancy South Pole, includes the following elements:

Carbon neutrality by 2025, an ambitious target, which seems to be met through carbon credit (offset) purchases

A sustainable aviation fuel partnership with Sky NRG

The use of the more fuel-efficient Bombardier Global 7500

Fuel consumption reduction technology via FLIGHTKEYS 5D,, which VistaJet says saves 8% per flight

Sustainable in-flight products, with 90% of single use products eliminated

Renewable energy use in offices

Annual audits of Greenhouse gas emissions

What’s missing is any kind of commitment to transition to non-fossil fuel powered aircraft. The SAF commitment with Sky NRG also lacks some detail. However, otherwise, it’s quite an impressive blueprint.

PRIVATE JET MANUFACTURERS CHIP IN WITH THEIR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS

What about the executive aircraft manufacturers? To understand what they are doing to help push the sector to a more sustainable future, let's look at five manufacturers: Bombardier, Textron (Cessna and Beechcraft), Embraer, Gulfstream and Pilatus.

BOMBARDIER LEAVES MUCH TO THE IMAGINATION

In the previous section, we showed how leading fleet operator VistaJet was lauding the greater fuel efficiency of the Bombardier Global 7500 business jet. However, Bombardier itself doesn’t appear to play up any kind of sustainability credentials for the Global 7500 or the longest-range model, the Global 8000. Even when there is a mention of reduced noise, it’s done from the perspective of the passengers and not that of people on the ground who might hear the aircraft land late at night.

Instead, Bombardier leads with the Challenger 3500, which it calls “the most sustainably designed business jet in its class”. However, the range of the Challenger 3500 is 3400 nautical miles, compared to 7700 nautical miles for the Global 7500.

Source: Bombardier

As a result, Bombardier’s “sustainable” business jet won’t appeal to the highest tier of CEO looking for an aircraft to travel ultra-long haul, including facilities such as a private bedroom.

Turning back to the Challenger 3500, what makes it “sustainable?” Bombardier lists several elements like a ‘carbon neutral flight test programme.’ As there are no other details, the assumption is that this was done via carbon offsetting.

Then there is the “eco app (eWAS Pilot with OptiFlight® from SITA) which allows crews to optimise their flight profiles-maximising fuel efficiency, lowering CO2 emissions.”

Finally, there is mention of the fact that the jet can operate on SAF. However, that in itself isn’t news – SAF is a drop-in fuel designed to work with the aircraft flying today. Instead, the issue is certification, and Bombardier doesn’t say how and when it intends to bring the Challenger 3500 to being certified on 100% SAF use.

Overall, Bombardier offers a number of suggestions on what it may be doing or how its jets can be sustainable, but little is known about what is actually being done. There is no focus on storytelling, and the details of most efforts are lacking. There are also no details about Bombardier’s own Scope 1 or Scope 2 emission reduction plans.

TEXTRON AVIATION OFFERS A SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP

Textron owns several aircraft brands, including Cessna and Beechcraft. It also now owns Pipistrel, the Slovenian electric aircraft manufacturer that developed the first all-electric certified aircraft, the Pipistrel Vellis Electro.

Textron’s headline goals are:

Reduce carbon emissions by 50%

Create carbon neutral growth from 2020

Increase fuel efficiency by 2% per year between 2020 and 2030

In addition to these, Textron outlines several other sustainability initiatives, including:

Powering its Wichita, Kansas HQ by renewable energy

Offering SAF as an initial fuel tank on delivery of new aircraft. An interesting idea, which doesn’t do a great deal to reduce total carbon emissions, but does highlight the role alternative fuels can play to customers

Sustainable materials used in cabin design

As mentioned, Textron does have a foot in the electric aviation space, thanks to its ownership of Pipistrel. Even though Pipistrel is developing a four-seat aircraft called the Panthera, this doesn’t appear to be in any way geared towards the private aviation sector.

EMBRAER LEADS WITH ENERGIA CONCEPT AIRCRAFT

In addition to producing regional passenger aircraft like the Embraer 170 and 190, Embraer makes the world’s best-selling light jet - the Phenom 300.

Last year, Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Michael Amalfitano said that the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer would be testing this aircraft on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Embraer is also planning a next-generation aircraft concept called Energia, which will include both a hybrid-electric and a hydrogen-electric version. In a recent interview on our podcast, Sustainability In The Air, top executives detailed their vision for these next generations of aircraft.

You would imagine that the hybrid-electric E19-HE, which will theoretically have up to 19 seats in the commuter version, will also be offered to business aviation customers.

Note that as well as carbon emissions benefits, the E-19-HE also claims a noise reduction of 60%, which will be very appealing to urban airports.

GULFSTREAM FOCUSES ON SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUELS

Another major executive jet manufacturer is Gulfstream. Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk flies a Gulfstream jet - the G650ER.

Gulfstream has made good progress in looking to have its business jets certified to work completely with SAF.

In December 2022, Gulfstream worked with engine manufacturer Rolls Royce in running a flight on a G650 aircraft on 100% SAF.

Gulfstream also points to other sustainability initiatives such as increasing fuel efficiency in its aircraft, and having ‘sustainable’ premises at its Savannah, Georgia HQ, with the construction being LEED certified.

Source: Embraer

PILATUS IS FOCUSED ON FUEL EFFICIENCY

Pilatus is a Swiss aircraft manufacturer for the general / business aviation market. Rather than jets, it however specialises in turboprops, calling them “green and safe.”

The company claims that its PC-12 aircraft offers up to 74% less emissions than a large business jet due to its fuel efficiency. Currently, the PC-12 is certified for 50% SAF use.

Meanwhile, the glossy Pilatus sustainability brochure talks about elements such as using renewable energy for its facilities, with one of the largest solar farms in Switzerland.

THE NBAA SUSTAINABLE FLIGHT DEPARTMENT ACCREDITATION PROGRAM IS SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

Both Gulfstream and Textron have been certified under the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) Sustainable Flight Department Accreditation programme. This is a virtual audit, where companies are assessed in four areas - flight, infrastructure, operations and ground support.

While it’s positive that an industry body (in this case, in the US), has an accreditation programme, the name of the accreditation doesn’t slip off the tongue so easily. And it doesn’t seem to cover scope three emissions - the emissions produced by customers flying the aircraft.

ELECTRIC AND HYBRIDELECTRIC BUSINESS AIRCRAFT SET TO REVOLUTIONISE BUSINESS AVIATION

Finally, let’s look at a number of executive aircraft being developed that are designed to run on alternative technologies, chiefly on electric or hybrid-electric propulsion systems.

AMPAIRE IS RETROFITTING EXISTING COMMUTER AIRCRAFT

Ampaire is a California-based company, which is currently looking at retrofitting existing commuter aircraft with hybrid-electric powertrains.

In the Summer of 2022, it staged the longest hybrid-electric flight so far, when it flew a converted Cessna 337 (which it calls the Electric Eel) from California to Kansas, a distance of over 1000 miles.

The aircraft that it intends to bring into service from the end of next year is the ‘EcoCaravan’, a converted Cessna Grand Caravan.

This already has pre-orders from Wing Tips, which offers private charters in California. Eventually, Wing Tips intends to order 175 aircraft from Ampaire for flights of between 100-400 mile distances.

As well as the Eco-Caravan, this will include Ampaire’s next aircraft, the Eco-Otter (a converted DH6 Twin Otter).

Source: Ampaire

EVIATION’S ALL-ELECTRIC ALICE

‘Alice’ by Eviation is being offered in different configurations: there’s a nine-seat commuter version, a cargo version and an executive version.

The aircraft will be all-electric and is designed to enter service in 2027.

The executive version has space for six passengers with large panoramic windows and what it says is the widest cabin in its class.

Eviation also claims that the Alice will be 100x less noisy on take-off compared to executive jet equivalents.

Eviation has had orders from Air New Zealand, delivery company DHL and US commuter airline Cape Air among others. However, there does not as yet seem to be an order for the executive version of the Alice.

PANHWAR JET IS WORKING ON A SELF-CHARGING JET

Utah-based Panhwar jet claims to be developing the world’s first self-charging all-electric business jet. It says it has proprietary technology, where the battery pack generates air, which generates power for the aircraft while in flight.

This gives it a claimed range of 1250 nautical miles. If true and its technology works the way it should, that’s much more than the 250-300 nautical miles which the Alice will be able to do.

However, while Alice has significant pre-orders, the news section of the Panhwar Jet website contains no information about any customers.

Source: Eviation

VOLTAERO SEEMS TO BE A GOOD FIT FOR EUROPE

Voltaero is a French-based company developing a hybrid-electric aircraft called the Cassio.

The Cassio 330 will seat four passengers, while the Cassio 480 will have six seats, making both aircraft suitable for potential use by business aviation operators.

The aircraft will have a range of 800 nautical miles, and so would be suitable for a lot of the European city-to-city private jet traffic, as well as sectors such as the NorthEast Corridor of the US, or flights within California.

Voltaero says that it is targeting entry into service from 2024, which being only a year away, seems somewhat optimistic, as it’s not yet that far advanced in terms of flight tests.

UNIVERSAL HYDROGEN AND ZEROAVIA BET ON HYDROGEN-ELECTRIC POWERTRAINS

Universal Hydrogen and ZeroAvia don’t make aircraft themselves, but they do make hydrogen-electric powertrains that can be retrofitted or line fitted onto existing aircraft designs.

There's an obvious potential for the current business jet manufacturers to work with one of these two companies in converting their aircraft to zero emissions alternatives. Source: ZeroAvia

THE EVTOL “AIR TAXIS” MAY FLY OVER BUSY METROPOLITAN AREAS SOON

Finally, eVTOLs (an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) or ‘air taxis’ have a clear business aviation appeal. In fact, the first routes operated by Archer and Joby, two manufacturers at the head of the eVTOL pack, will be ones currently operated by helicopter charter companies - namely central LA and NYC to LAX and Newark/JFK. Archer’s CEO, Adam Goldstein, recently shared on our podcast that his vision is to operate “electric gondolas in the sky” that take off continuously one after another to carry passengers between two points. Similarly, Halo Aviation, a company currently operating private helicopter charter flights, has placed an aircraft order with Eve, the eVTOL company spun out of Embraer. We see a clear business case for companies and business executives using eVTOLs within urban conurbations. And not only in Europe or North America. For example, start-up FlyBIS has signed an order with Eve to provide air mobility services in Latin American cities that are often congested with traffic and don’t offer good public transport alternatives.

Source: Embraer

CORPORATE BOOK-ANDCLAIM FOR SAF IS THE FL AVOUR OF THE DAY

There’s one very obvious problem around the next-generation aircraft we talked about in the previous section – distance.

They might work on a transfer from Manhattan to JFK (using an eVTOL), or San Diego to Los Angeles (using an aircraft like the Alice), but there is currently no non-fossil-fuel powered executive jet in production that will take Elon Musk or Bill Gates halfway around the world.

Here, sustainable aviation fuel is the only realistic decarbonisation solution, for now anyway. Some aircraft manufacturers, like Gulfstream, have run 100% SAF test flights and are working towards certification.

But that process will probably take at the very least two years to come to fruition. As a result, there are so-called ‘book-and-claim’ systems in operation for the corporate travel market.

A quantity of SAF is purchased equivalent to the amount of fuel used in the aircraft. The analogy is that the system works much like renewable energy tariffs in the electricity sector.

The homes themselves buying into the tariff are not directly powered by wind or solar power; instead, they pay for an equivalent amount of renewable energy to be put into the grid.

One of the biggest book-and-claim systems is called Avelia. It was established in the Summer of 2022 by Shell, Accenture and American Express Global Business Travel, which Nora Lovell Marchant shared on our podcast.

Similarly, SAF provider SkyNRG also offers a book-and-claim system and has a coalition of corporates on board through an initiative called Board Now. This includes Microsoft, Skyscanner, PwC and Bank of America.

A MORE RADICAL APPROACH IS NEEDED

As we have shown in this report, the business aviation sector is under some very unique climate change-related challenges.

Politicians in Europe increasingly see it as a way to curb aviation emissions without inconveniencing the vast majority of the travelling public.

At the same time, climate change groups sense that their tactics are working, following Amsterdam Schiphol’s decision to ban private jets from 2025.

And all this comes as the sector as a whole has an image problem. When they think of private jets, people tend to imagine Elon Musk or Kim Kardashian and not a manufacturer trying to close a last-minute deal in person and create jobs.

As discussed, industry spokespeople are addressing this in two ways:

Trying to show that business aviation is only a very small % of carbon emissions. However, this approach won’t work because it’s not why the sector is being targeted.

Positioning the sector as a kind of test-bed for new technologies is a much more promising approach. This could be a win-win situation for both business jet operators and manufacturers producing new hybrid-electric or electric aircraft.

For one thing, these newer aircraft will only be able to carry a limited number of passengers to begin with, which is not an issue in the private aviation sector.

Also, next-generation aircraft makers could work with business jet operators to use their flights as a proof-of-concept. Having passed that, their aircraft could become even more attractive to smaller regional airlines.

However, the problem is that the reality right now does not match up to this vision.

For example, the European trade body, the EBAA, has a goal of a 2% annual increase in fuel efficiency from 2010 to 2020, achieving carbon-neutral growth from 2020, and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005 levels.

That’s not going to stop policymakers, with the backing of public opinion, from severely curbing business aviation.

WHAT COULD A MORE AMBITIOUS PLAN LOOK LIKE?

We believe that a much more radical approach is needed. This could include:

A 2040 net zero target which would beat the ICAO goal by ten years.

A SAF mandate that’s well above the minimum mandated requirement. For example, the EU’s mandate is 6% SAF by 2030. The sector should commit to 7.5% or even 10%.

An accelerated book-and-claim programme to make up the SAF shortfall

In line with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), a commitment to keep carbon offsetting at below 10% of the overall net zero programmes

More private jet operators and charter companies to pre-order next generation aircraft that don’t run on fossil fuels, like the Eviation Alice. Ideally, rather than LOIs, there should be a cash commitment in these orders, which will also speed up the development of the aircraft.

Listen to more insights on our podcast

Want more sustainable aviation insights?

Sustainability in the Air is the world’s first sustainable aviation podcast. Hosted by SimpliFlying Shashank Nigam, the show has featured airline CEOs such as Scott Kirby and Tony Douglas.

But as part of the podcast, Shashank has also talked to innovators developing new kinds of aircraft and engines, such as Heart Aerospace CEO Anders Forslund, ZeroAvia CEO Val Miftakhov and Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein.

Listen and subscribe to the podcast here:

green.simpliflying.com/podcast

Guests on previous seasons

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of the

have included Heart Aerospace CEO Anders Forslund, ZeroAvia CEO Val Miftakhov and Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein.

Over the past fifteen years, SimpliFlying has worked with over 100 airlines and airports worldwide to build trust in travel.

We now focus on helping the industry navigate the biggest challenge it has faced so far – the need to decarbonise and reach net zero by 2050.

Here are just some of the ways we can help you in this journey: