Sustainable flight fund investment increases to €180 million
It has added eight new corporate partners, five months after its initial launch.
American Express Global Business Travel, Aramco Ventures, Aviation Capital Group, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Groupe ADP, Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Ventures, will join inaugural fund partners Air Canada, Boeing, GE Aerospace, JPMorgan Chase and Honeywell.
United customers also have the option to contribute to supplement the airline’s investment in the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund when they book flights.
“While United can’t decarbonise the airline industry alone, we can use our leadership and credibility in this space to rally others to join us,” said United Airlines ventures president Michael Leskinen. “Our new and inaugural participants demonstrate the impressive commitment within aviation and beyond to reduce our carbon footprint and combat the threat of climate change. As companies across the globe are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact from flying, the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund presents a unique opportunity – instead of fighting over the current limited supply of SAF, with our partners, we’re working collaboratively to help scale the SAF industry itself, and to get an equity stake in groundbreaking technology while doing it.”
United will continue to recruit corporations across industries to join the fund and will prioritise investment in new technology, advanced fuel sources, and proven producers – all in an effort to help scale the supply of SAF.
Partners also have the potential to gain preferential access to environmental attributes associated with United’s future supply of SAF.