There was a time when the word “sustainability” made airline executives fidget like schoolboys caught with contraband. Not anymore. These days, being green is no longer a marketing flourish; it’s a survival strategy.
And if anyone needed proof, they got it in Singapore last week when Korean Air was named Asia Airlines of the Year at the 2025 CAPA – Centre for Aviation Environmental Sustainability Awards.
Held on 30 October 2025, during the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia, the black-tie affair was as polished as a first-class champagne flute. Yet beneath the sparkle, the mood was sober. This was about saving aviation’s soul, one litre of sustainable fuel at a time.
When the green carpet replaces the red
The awards, run by CAPA — part of the venerable Aviation Week Network, no less, are widely seen as the industry’s sustainability Oscars.
Marco Navarria, CAPA’s Content & Marketing Director, set the tone early. “The CAPA Aviation Sustainability Awards for Excellence celebrate the trailblazers driving environmental transformation across the global air travel sector,” he declared.
It wasn’t the sort of line you’d embroider on a pillow, but it landed with weight. CAPA’s process, he explained, uses independently verified data and what he called “comprehensive analytical frameworks”. Translation: no greenwashing allowed.
And that’s why the winners, a veritable United Nations of airline names, mattered.
The winners’ circle
This year’s roll call was as global as it gets: IAG Group in London, Air New Zealand in Auckland, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in Amsterdam, Volaris in Mexico City, and Air Transat in Montreal.
Each, in its own way, is trying to drag the industry towards a cleaner conscience. Some are charging ahead with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF); others are tinkering with AI flight modelling or swapping widebodies for efficient narrowbodies.
And all of them finally prove that sustainability can live alongside commercial sanity.
IAG Group: the global green giant
If the awards were a horse race, IAG Group would have won by several lengths. The parent company of British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus has become the industry’s great green hope.
Through its accelerator, or as they style it, the “Accelerator” programme, IAG invests in clean-energy startups with the enthusiasm usually reserved for new aircraft orders. The goal: make sustainability scalable, not just fashionable.
At the group level, IAG plans to make 10% of total fuel SAF by 2030, comfortably ahead of the EU’s mandate. As one executive quipped over canapés, “We’re not waiting for Brussels to tell us when to refuel.”
In a world where airlines often talk a good game but fly in circles, IAG’s progress feels refreshingly real.
Air New Zealand: the pragmatic pioneer
Few airlines walk their talk quite like Air New Zealand. While others issue pledges wrapped in adjectives, the Kiwis quietly get on with the work.
Despite fleet hiccups and aircraft groundings that would test any operator’s patience, Air New Zealand is sticking to its 2030 emissions target, a 20% to 25% reduction from 2019.
It’s also leading the Asia-Pacific pack on SAF adoption, with usage jumping from 0.4% in 2024 to 1.7% in 2025, and a confident 10% target by the end of the decade.
There’s a realism to the airline’s strategy, no grandstanding, just steady, measurable change. One analyst at the gala whispered, “If everyone moved as methodically as the Kiwis, we’d all be flying cleaner already.”
KLM: Europe’s original eco-evangelist
The Dutch have a knack for practical innovation, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines continues to prove it. Before “net zero” became fashionable, KLM was already rethinking everything from cabin waste to contrail formation.
Today, sustainability runs through the airline’s veins. SAF, eFuels, and waste minimisation have become corporate reflexes rather than experiments.
KLM has also leaned into advocacy, pushing European and global policymakers to accelerate aviation’s decarbonisation framework. It’s one thing to change your flight plan, quite another to convince the whole industry to follow.
As one Dutch executive said, “We’re used to fighting the tide back home; aviation’s no different.”
Volaris: Latin America’s green underdog
Not every hero wears a business-class badge. Mexico’s Volaris, a scrappy low-cost carrier, proves that sustainability isn’t just for the rich end of town.
Flying one of Latin America’s youngest and most efficient fleets, Volaris has wrung every last drop of efficiency from its operation. Its digital optimisation systems trim fuel burn and shave emissions mid-flight, and in a region where SAF is still in its infancy, Volaris is helping kickstart local production.
The airline’s low-cost roots remain intact, but it’s taking a high-minded approach to the planet. One industry wag at the gala summed it up neatly: “They may charge less, but they think bigger.”
Air Transat: Canada’s cool-headed crusader
Then there’s Air Transat, proof that leisure doesn’t mean lazy. The Montreal-based airline has swapped its old gas-guzzlers for sleek long-range narrowbodies, improving efficiency while expanding reach.
Its engineers are now flirting with artificial intelligence and machine learning to map out fuel-saving opportunities in the air and on the ground — less futuristic than it sounds, and already paying dividends.
Under its Corporate Responsibility Framework, guided by the solid trinity of People, Planet & Sustainable Practices, Air Transat is weaving sustainability into every decision, from flight schedules to crew training.
It’s not flashy but thorough, and that’s often how revolutions begin.
CAPA’s purpose: from data to direction
Behind the glitz, CAPA’s sustainability awards aren’t just photo opportunities. They are a compass for an industry that is still finding its bearings in the climate storm.
CAPA and its analytics partner, Envest Global, assess each contender using independently sourced data and a meticulous scoring framework. The process weeds out fluff and rewards proof that can be measured, audited, and replicated.
Navarria was right to call the winners “trailblazers.” The data support this praise. Every honouree has turned environmental commitment into operational practice, not slogans but systems.
Aviation’s overdue awakening
The night in Singapore was almost confessional. Executives who once muttered about “necessary evils” and “market realities” suddenly traded ideas on SAF refineries and carbon capture.
Perhaps it’s the pressure from investors, regulators, and passengers alike. Or perhaps, after decades of resistance, the penny has finally dropped: green aviation isn’t an ideological crusade. It’s economic survival.
Even the air itself seemed to hum with irony. The same industry that once symbolised environmental excess is now positioning itself as a model for corporate transition.
One guest, nursing a glass of pinot, observed dryly: “You know the world’s changed when airlines start competing over who’s using cleaner kerosene.”
The flight path ahead
The 2025 CAPA Environmental Sustainability Awards might one day be remembered as a turning point, the year when ambition began to outpace excuse.
Navarria noted, “These recipients have shown exceptional dedication to pioneering sustainability initiatives, while championing the industry’s mission to achieve ambitious emissions-reduction targets and deliver a net-zero aviation future.”
The difference now is that those words no longer sound like wishful thinking. They sound like a work in progress.
For all the applause and polite back-slapping, there’s still a mountain to climb or a sky to clean. But if the momentum from Singapore is any measure, aviation’s next great leap might not be measured in miles, but in conscience.
