Austrian tour operator invests in sustainable aviation fuel

Photo: Austrian Airlines

Kneissl Touristik is among the first Austrian tour operators to invest in the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for flights with Austrian Airlines and other airlines of the Lufthansa Group.

Kneissl Touristik took the contributions made by customers in July and August to offset the CO2 emissions of their trips and invested them in SAF.

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group use this SAF amount to reduce the CO2 emissions of air travel.

“With this investment, Kneissl Touristik, together with the airlines of the Lufthansa Group, is taking an important step towards more sustainable air travel,” Austrian Airlines stated.

The SAF used by Austrian Airlines consists of biogenic residues such as used cooking oils and reduces CO2 emissions by around 80 percent compared to fossil fuel on a lifecycle basis.

In the coming years, the production of fuels made from renewable energies, with even higher reduction potential, is to be ramped up.

The availability of SAF is still limited, and the price is about three to five times higher than for fossil fuel.

Lufthansa Group is one of the largest SAF consumers worldwide and consumed 5 percent of global SAF production last year.

In August 2022, Lufthansa Group’s CO2-reduction target (minus 30.6 percent of specific CO2 emissions) by 2030 was validated by the independent Science Based Targets initiative.

Lufthansa Group was the first airline group in Europe with a scientifically based CO2-reduction target in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.

To achieve the goal of CO2-neutral aviation by 2050, Lufthansa Group invests in accelerated fleet modernization, the continuous optimization of flight operations, the use of SAF, and provides offers for private and corporate clients to make their air travel more sustainable.