Spanish platform lets you reduce your next flight’s emissions

An innovative way to get travellers personally involved in their carbon footprint

Flying is a tricky thing – environmentally speaking. On one hand, it is a symbol of technological progress which makes the world feel small and accessible, but on the other, it places a heavy toll on the environment.

To that end, last week in Barcelona, the Avicor platform was launched – an online tool, which lets passengers check the carbon footprint impact of their next flight and pay a contribution that would replace the kerosene fuel with the so-called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The user only pays the difference between the two.

Sustainable biofuels are the best option to reduce CO2 emissions in the aviation sector

The project was launched with the support of Aena, the Spanish national company in charge of airport management, ALA (the Airlines Association) and Exolum, a leading company in liquid products logistics, and the creator of the platform.

For now, the service will be available only to passengers flying out from Madrid’s Barajas and Barcelona’s El Prat airports. All they have to do is go on the website, type in their flight number and they will see a calculation of the SAF litres as they correspond per passenger. It will be then up to them to decide how much they want to contribute to making their flight greener.

The company then guarantees that the total amount of biofuel purchased will be delivered to the airport using their specialized vehicles.

The platform represents an innovative idea, and it is a clear sign of encouragement to those environmentally minded passengers who want to take a stance. Until now, it was not possible to use an airplane without feeling like you are contributing to leaving a massive carbon footprint. But from now, it will be possible to act separately from your co-passengers sharing the same flight.

The project planners, however, hope that this will stimulate people to learn more about SAF, to know that it is possible to make air travel more sustainable and to do something about it – at first individually but also, and increasingly so, collectively.

Sustainable aviation fuels are usually made from used cooking oils or animal fats and are reported to be able to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by 80%.