Reinventing Air Travel
On 19 November 2021, a panel of innovators, entrepreneurs and policymakers came together to discuss cutting-edge ideas that could put the future of air travel onto a more sustainable trajectory.
Rolls of turf rolled up by exhibition workers in front of a turbofan engine at Paris Air Show, Le Bourget France. Image: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images.
While the coronavirus pandemic has seen a dramatic drop in air travel, prior to the COVID-19 crisis there had been continuous growth in global air traffic: the number of air passengers had reached a high of over 4.5 billion in 2019. Carbon emissions from aviation account for more than 2.5 per cent of global emissions and these have grown by 32 per cent over the past five years.
The COVID-19 crisis may have paused much air travel, but it has also brought into focus the scale of international air travel and its associated emissions. As the airline industry looks to recover, technological innovation in aircrafts and fuels, the development of new business models and policies could shift air travel off its emissions trajectory.
At this event a forward-looking panel of technological innovators, designers, business leaders, policymakers and campaigners discussed the range of cutting-edge ideas that could help shape the future of air travel to be more sustainable.
Speakers
Omer Bar-Yohay, Founder and CEO, Eviation Aircraft
Robert Boyd, Assistant Director, Aviation Environment, International Air Transport Association
Maria Fiskerud, Senior Project Manager, NEA Network
Dr Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, LanzaTech
Tim Johnson, Director, Aviation Environment Federation
Jens Martin Skibsted, Global Partner, Manyone