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SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has announced the second edition of its Sustainable Flight Challenge (TSFC) to take place in May 2023 with the support of its member airlines’ CEOs. The challenge aims to encourage global airlines to reduce air travel’s carbon footprint and find innovative solutions to make air travel more sustainable.

The inaugural TSFC was held in May 2022 and brought together 16 airlines to explore new ideas for making flights more environmentally friendly. The participating airlines completed 22 medium- and long-haul flights that were already part of their existing networks. The results of the challenge showed a collective improvement of 15% in operational efficiency and sparked hundreds of new ideas for making air travel greener.

This year, the challenge has been extended to include airlines close to SkyTeam, as the alliance seeks to drive broader industry change. “The transformation needed to reduce aviation’s environmental impact cannot happen by working in isolation. Our members are sharing a wealth of creative ideas and showing immense commitment in our bold ambition of making The Sustainable Flight Challenge a force for change,” said Patrick Roux, SkyTeam CEO and Managing Director.

The TSFC is more than just a competition; it is centred around collective learning. All participating airlines are committed to sharing their learnings openly, respecting competition law boundaries, to drive industry change. Last year’s participating airlines showcased their best innovations at a two-day seminar in August 2022 to promote best practices for making travel on SkyTeam members more sustainable.

The flights from last year’s challenge were evaluated against 14 categories by an independent judging panel made up of international sustainability and aviation industry experts, led by former Dutch Prime Minister and environmental campaigner, Professor Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende.

The airlines that participated in the inaugural Sustainable Flight Challenge were Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air France, China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, ITA Airways, Kenya Airways, KLM, KLM Cityhopper, Korean Air, Saudia, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines, and Xiamen Air.

In conclusion, the Sustainable Flight Challenge is a significant step towards making air travel more sustainable and reducing its carbon footprint. The commitment and efforts of SkyTeam and its member airlines to drive industry change towards a greener future are commendable.