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 an acceptance rate of over 80% with customers who opted for compensation programs.
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.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that VistaJet has a customer acceptance rate greater than 80% for balancing programs.
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