Reducing the climate impact of flying

Air travel connects businesses, communities, cultures and people in a time-efficient way. That’s why we’re constantly working hard to reduce the climate impact from our operations so that we can ensure the value of aviation for generations to come.

This requires innovation along with a mindset to always consider sustainability in everything we do. The most visible sign of our work to reduce emissions is the large investment we’re making in new aircraft. Our new aircraft reduce CO2 emissions by 15 to 18% for short routes and 30 to 40% for long routes compared with similar aircraft from previous generations. To manifest this big change in our fleet, we’re giving our aircraft a new look, a new livery – the first in more than 20 years.

This is a continuation of the new design onboard, where we have also changed our cabin interiors using, for example, new seats and carpets that weigh less and are made of more sustainable materials.
Many initiatives with sustainability in mind are already ongoing, including striving to keep the use of plastic packaging to a bare minimum, developing our pre-order meal concept to reduce weight and waste, using electric vehicles on the ground and optimizing the use of deicing fluids to mention just a few.
In the long term, we’re looking into innovations such as electric-powered aircraft, but until there’s a technical solution ready for a zero-emission aircraft, biofuel is the bridge we need to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions from aviation.

Now you as a traveler can be part of making your flight more sustainable by adding biofuel to your ticket. Just like you add extra baggage, onboard meals and lounge access, you can also buy biofuel. SAS makes no pro-fit on your purchase and your contribution adds to the biofuel that SAS is already -using.
We know that many challenges remain as we transition to more sustainable aviation, but we want to lead the way. Join us on our journey. Welcome onboard!

Rickard Gustafson President and CEO, SAS