At the Airbus Summit in France on Tuesday, Chief Sustainability Officer Julie Kitcher claimed that aviation emissions have remained “relatively stable” and that innovation could help offset the industry’s continued growth.
While steady as a share of total emissions, the record shows a rise in aviation emissions in the past three decades and there are several challenges to implementing new tools that make air travel more efficient.
Kitcher made her case on a panel discussing limiting the amount of flights to slow down emissions: “We’ve seen that over the decades, although air travel has doubled, actually the greenhouse gas emissions from aviation have remained relatively stable. So it shows that the technology and the measures that we’re implementing are offsetting the growth from aviation,” Kitcher said at the conference.
Kitcher added that rather than limiting air travel, the focus should be on decarbonization strategies such as alternative fuels and more efficient aircraft.
“At the end of the day, you see that the growth is there for air travel,” she said. “So it’s really about being able to offset and reduce emissions with the right tools to be able to get us to net zero in 2050.”
When asked about Kitcher’s remarks, an Airbus spokesperson pointed Hospitality career profile to a 2024 Airbus report that showed that aviation’s share of global carbon dioxide emissions had remained at around 2%.
Aviation Emissions: What the Research Shows
Over the years, aircraft have become more fuel-efficient, helping to slow the growth of emissions in the aviation sector, which contributes around 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Between 1990 and 2019, air travel for both passenger and freight quadrupled, according to Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor of Our World in Data at the University of Oxford’s Oxford Martin School.
At the same time, aircraft became twice as energy efficient.
The net result: Research published in Nature shows that aviation emissions have more than doubled since 1990.
A study in Science Direct, which analyzed aviation emissions data from sources including historical flight records, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization, reached similar conclusions.
The European Union also reported that aviation emissions in Europe have doubled since 1990.
The industry itself has admitted that progress has been slow.
The sector hadn’t “made as much progress” as it wanted, “or is needed, on decarbonizing the aviation sector,” said International Air Transport Association (IATA) director Willie Walsh in December.
Greener Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Falling Behind
Future emissions will depend on whether aviation can maintain the efficiency gains and transition to low-carbon fuels, Ritchie said.
“So far, the sector has made almost no progress on the latter,” Ritchie wrote in a report on aviation emissions.
Many airlines have committed to using SAF to help reduce emissions. But concerns remain over its limited supply.
Kitcher acknowledged this during her presentation. “We need to find a way to stimulate the capital,” she said. “It will all come down to the business case. We’ve got to get an attractive business case for our airline customers, for suppliers, for banks to be able to really make a difference.”
Meanwhile, air travel demand continues to rise. IATA reported record high global demand in 2024. And Airbus projects that air traffic will more than double in the next 20 years.
Much of the growth is expected to come from regions like India and China.
Some experts worry that slower adoption of climate policies in these regions could delay decarbonization efforts. Kitcher said she remains optimistic about progress in these markets.
“We shouldn’t underestimate what is happening in China and India when it comes to renewable fuel,” she said. “Connectivity, economic growth, reducing emissions – there’s a lot happening.”
During the summit, the company provided an update on its plans for a hydrogen powered aircraft that could enter service in the second half of the 2030’s.
Hospitality career profile’s in-depth reporting on climate issues is made possible through the financial support of Intrepid Travel. This backing allows Hospitality career profile to bring you high-quality journalism on one of the most important topics facing our planet today. Intrepid is not involved in any decisions made by Hospitality career profile’s editorial team.
