“Decarbonizing aviation is one of the biggest challenges of our time,” says Melanie Heiniger, SWISS’s Head of Corporate Responsibility. At SWISS we’ve set ourselves ambitious CO₂ objectives. And to achieve them, we’re taking a broad-based approach together with the Lufthansa Group: we’re modernizing our aircraft fleet; we’re steadily further enhancing our flight operations; we’re putting a firm emphasis on using sustainable aviation fuels; and we’re concurrently investing in quality climate protection projects. 

None of these actions, though, will be enough on its own. What’s needed is an interplay of multiple actions by multiple participants. And this is why SWISS puts a firm emphasis on close collaborations with partner companies, with its customers and with the scientific community to turn forward-looking solutions into practical realities. SWISS is actively involved in all such endeavors, playing a key role in research and pilot projects, developing strong strategic partnerships and promoting and supporting innovative new technologies.

We asked Melanie Heiniger which partners SWISS is already working closely with, how exactly these collaborations work, and why it takes true partnerships to achieve genuine progress.

 

Melanie, why are partnerships so crucial to transforming the air transport sector?

The aviation world faces a huge challenge – and massive investment – if it is to achieve its carbon reduction objectives. Many of the technologies that are needed if we’re to meet our net-zero emissions goal, and sustainable aviation fuel and carbon removal processes in particular, are still in development or in their pilot trial phase, and are not yet commercially available. Which is why we must continue to pursue and promote them today.

To do so, partnerships are the key. By working as closely as possible with industry, research, start-ups and political institutions, we can accelerate innovations, bundle investments, and help frame and fashion regulatory parameters. A truly collaborative approach is the only way we can systematically drive and scale up these solutions and achieve the decarbonization that our industry seeks and needs. In doing so, we’re also confirming our commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular to SDG 17, which calls for a partnership approach to achieve the world’s sustainability objectives.

 

What partners are we already working with? And what’s our latest addition?

Promoting key technologies is a cornerstone of our sustainability strategy. With sustainable aviation fuels and carbon removal in particular, we put a firm focus on partnerships and on Swiss innovation. And we’re proud to be an industry pioneer in these fields.

One example of this approach in action is our collaboration with Swiss clean-tech company Synhelion. We were the first airline in the world to integrate Synhelion’s solar fuel into its regular flight operations. This was a genuine milestone. And it takes us a big step closer to our vision of using sunlight as an aircraft energy source.

Alongside sustainable aviation fuels, carbon removal is another key element in our strategy where the pursuit of various approaches is absolutely vital. We’re the first airline here to team up with the Climeworks company to help them scale up their ‘direct air capture’ technology, which enables CO2 to be removed directly from the atmosphere and permanently stored in rock formations.

Our latest strategic partnership is with neustark, another technology pioneer that offers us a further opportunity to support and promote Swiss innovation. Neustark is a spinoff of ETH Zurich that has developed a process for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and permanently storing it in recycled concrete which, in its CO₂-enriched state, can be re-used for construction purposes. With over 30 active facilities in Europe and many more planned, neustark is pursuing its vision of permanently storing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO₂ over the coming years.

As well as scaling up promising new technologies, we’re also firmly committed at SWISS to helping shape and maintain a favorable political framework. On this front we’re part of a pilot project of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment which is focused on the first international transfer of permanent carbon reduction certificates under the Paris Agreement.

 

Can you give us a concrete example of a partnership that’s already had an impact?

SWISS – and our whole industry – still have a long journey ahead. The air transport sector expects to see an increase in its CO₂ emissions in the next few years. The technological change we need here is hugely challenging, with the technologies for decarbonizing our sector still in their early development phase. Even in 2050, most aircraft are likely to still be operating on liquid fuels.

This makes it all the more vital that we pursue and promote the research into and the development of truly sustainable technologies. And since there is sure to be more than one solution and it’s still far from clear which tech will prevail, we at SWISS are maintaining a diversified approach that is as open as possible to all new technologies. 

Our partners Synhelion, Climeworks and neustark have taken the innovations they developed at ETH Zurich and brought them to market with their first pilot commercial production facilities. And we’re very proud that, earlier this year, we became the first airline in the world to take delivery of an initial volume of Synhelion sustainable aviation fuel, and also to have received Climeworks and neustark carbon removal certificates. These are symbolic beginnings; but they’re major milestones, too.

 

And how can SWISS customers help you scale up these key new technologies?

They’re vital to the process: we can’t do it without them. Which is why we’re working with the Lufthansa Group to develop offers and options for more sustainable flying throughout the travel chain. Anyone who wishes to do so can offset the CO₂  emissions generated by their own air travel by funding our use of sustainable aviation fuel or by making a corresponding contribution to high-quality climate protection projects. Every contribution they make will help us further scale up these forward-looking technologies.

You’ll find further information on the above and more at Corporate Responsibility | SWISS