KLM CEO Sees More Efficient Planes as the Fastest Way to Hit Climate Goals
Photo Credit: KLM is moving forward with its fleet renewal plans even amid the slow European travel recovery. KLM
Skift Take
KLM forged ahead with its goal to halve carbon emissions by the end of the decade during the pandemic. It's making big investments in sustainable fuels and new jets with the hope that the European travel recovery is right around the corner.
After a steady drumbeat of rising aviation emissions — and a growing public backlash — carbon output plummeted dramatically in 2020. European aviation authority Eurocontrol estimated that the industry's emissions fell 57 percent year-over-year. But the drop came with a price: the coronavirus pandemic took a steep economic and human toll on the continent, claiming lives and closing businesses.
Now, with the travel recovery seemingly at hand, airlines are renewing their efforts to meet industry targets for net zero emissions by 2050. But it's more than that; where sustainability was oft a final, frequently forgotten bullet in many earnings calls before the crisis, they are now key talking points — both of airline management and investors.
KLM is one airline that has pushed ahead with its sustainability initiatives, pandemic or not. The carrier flew the first synthetic kerosene demonstration flight ever between Amsterdam and Madrid in February, an event that went off without a
