neutrality – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

The private jet charter company VistaJet has outlined plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 in order to implement the aviation industry’s sustainability goals.

The strategy includes carbon offsetting schemes that help protect forests in Zimbabwe and the Brazilian Amazon, as well as the option for customers to pay additional fees for sustainable fuels such as biofuels.

VistaJet’s founder and chairman said the company’s shared economy business model, which “competes with full aircraft ownership” by giving subscribers access to its fleet of 160 private jets, means customers are more willing to make sustainable cost savings Invest add-ons.

Some of these empty flights can be up to 50% compared to a shared model where it is constantly being optimized.

Thomas Flohr

Founder and Chairman of VistaJet

“The price and cost advantages that we grant make this surcharge possible,” Thomas Flohr told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday. So far, VistaJet has had a conviction rate of over 80% among customers who choose sustainable fuels.

Flohr said the company will also use “cutting edge technology” for route planning, including artificial intelligence, to predict customer behavior and reduce empty legs to the “lowest possible level.”

“This is really one of the problems with corporate jets. Some of these empty flights can be up to 50% compared to a common model that is constantly optimizing it,” he noted.

A man is on the phone next to a VistaJet on display for the 11th Annual European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) on May 16, 2011 at Geneva Airport and the Geneva Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.

Harold Cunningham | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The plans come because the aviation industry is under continued pressure to cut carbon emissions and improve sustainability practices, even as it struggles to recover from the coronavirus-induced impact on international travel.

The global aviation industry is currently aiming for a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050.

Despite criticism of private jet flights, whose low passenger numbers are typically viewed as more inefficient than commercial alternatives, Flohr believes the industry is at a turning point.

While commercial airlines can take several years to return to full capacity due to the pandemic, companies like VistaJet can now operate smaller aircraft at full capacity, he said.

“In terms of business efficiency, we really don’t keep a CEO on a flight,” said Flohr. “We really only take off when we have a fully paid and fully equipped cabin.”

Already this year, restrictions on business travel have been a boon for VistaJet as the company saw demand in the first quarter that was above pre-pandemic levels.

A 400-kilowatt Tesla solar power plant supplies 95% of the energy in the Xigera Safari Lodge, a hotel of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

The travel company

Travel Corporation, which owns and operates 40 travel brands – including managed vacation companies, hotels and transportation companies – has announced a five-tier climate change plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and continue existing efforts to meet its sustainability goals.

The plan, announced on Earth Day when President Joe Biden pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half over the same period, calls for the privately owned Travel Corporation to implement not only the five steps of its new plan, but a new one as well Online Impact Hub launches “at Impact.TreadRight.org, where consumers can track the progress of the effort. In addition, the company and its nonprofit Treadright Foundation are donating $ 100,000 to two” nature-based “carbon removal solutions, Project Vesta and GreenWave , invest.

While Cypress, California-based The Travel Corporation first launched its sustainability strategy in 2014, formal efforts to tackle carbon emissions began in 2019, CEO Brett Tollman said.

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“By that time, the US had pulled out of the landmark Paris Agreement and we felt we had to find our own way to reduce our emissions and become industry leader,” he said. “I welcome Joe Biden’s re-entry into the Paris Agreement.

“This will hopefully accelerate innovation in clean energy, electric vehicles, carbon capture and removal, as well as other areas where investment is urgently needed to support the transition to a low-carbon economy,” added Tollman.

The new climate action plan directly addresses the first two goals of The Travel Corporation’s sustainability strategy, which focus on the company’s carbon footprint: get 50% of the company’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and become carbon neutral by 2030. Climate change The vast majority of scientists believe that global warming is linked to an increase in emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The Travel Corporation’s climate protection plan

The climate protection plan approved by The Travel Corporation consists of five points:

Measure up: Measure emissions from business travel and travel.
To reduce: Build on reduction efforts and set yourself ambitious reduction targets by mid-2022.
Remove: Invest in new technologies and nature-based solutions to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere through the TreadRight Foundation.
Offset: Buy carbon credits to offset unavoidable emissions, including phasing out carbon-neutral driving between 2022 and 2030.
Develop: Keep learning from others, investing in new technology, and supporting strategic alliances that make Travel Corp. and enable the industry to transition to a low carbon economy.

Source: The Travel Corporation

The travel and transportation industries are often cited as the main producer of these emissions. “Decarbonising air travel is a critical next step towards a low-carbon future and there are technological advances in this sector that we welcome and are eager to see,” said Tollman. “Our climate protection plan prioritizes the reduction and elimination of emissions.”

The actions will affect the Travel Corporation’s 20+ offices, 18 Red Carnation Hotels, 13 Uniworld ships, six accommodations, over 500 vehicles and more than 1,500 itineraries operated by 40 run vacation brands worldwide including Contiki, Trafalgar and Insight Vacations become.

As part of this effort, the company has installed solar panels at Uniworld’s headquarters in Encino, California. Implementation of a 400-kilowatt Tesla system that supplies 95% of the energy in the Xigera Safari Lodge in Botswana; and in the resorts of Chateau de Cruix in France, Haus Schöneck in Austria and Ashford Castle in Ireland switched to 100% renewable electricity.

By January 1, 2022, Travel Corporation will have carbon-neutral offices and business travel through its carbon offset partner South Pole, and the Contiki division will also be completely carbon-neutral.

Regarding the potential cost or impact on prices from the measures, Tollman said the impact is worth it. “Our efforts to incorporate sustainability into our business are not new. They have evolved since our foundation was launched,” he said. “This has not resulted in higher costs, but certainly has resulted in higher value.”

Despite the setback in environmental policies and measures in some areas of US society, Tollman is not concerned about the impact on bookings. “Regardless of political ideologies, we welcome travelers from all over the world,” he said. “That’s why our sustainability goals affect the way we work. So it’s not up to the traveler to agree or disagree with our practices, it’s just the way we do business.”