Flight Club: How Premier League Clubs Can Make Emissions Savings
Premier League football clubs could cut up to 80% of emissions by purchasing sustainable aviation fuel when flying privately, says on-demand private jet company Victor.
Victor, the on-demand private jet company, together with Neste, the world-leading producer of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), can provide the Premier League – and all touring sports teams – with the opportunity to make a significant, measurable impact in their carbon emission reduction ambitions.
By purchasing Neste’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel instead of regular fossil jet fuel directly through Victor’s online platform, football teams can now reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of their private jet travel by up to 80% (1) – enabling a transparent and measurable CO₂ reduction on every booking.
This partnership is currently the only way to credibly reduce the carbon emissions from on-demand private jet charter (the mode of aviation used most frequently by football clubs), since it delivers an immediate in-sector emission reduction.
Victor recognises that competitive sporting seasons bring about a unique set of challenges to professional sports clubs and teams. With the intense schedules of domestic and international matches, commercial airlines do not provide teams with the relevant flights or capacity to meet their tight timescales and requirements. Private charter flights also offer the important comfort, rest and seclusion that is needed to ensure best performance upon arrival at each destination or fixture.
Toby Edwards, Co-CEO at Victor, comments: “Sustainable Aviation Fuel is the only safe, credible option available now for football teams to decarbonise their domestic and international charter flights. The Premier League clubs can afford it and encouragingly a few of them are seriously considering SAF ahead of the 2023/24 season.”
Like many other industries, the world of sport is having to carefully consider the impact it has on the environment. Victor’s optional provision of SAF gives professional teams a chance to consciously reduce their emissions, while still receiving the vital, bespoke charter service that they need.
Jet Zero: The Sky’s The Limit
In July 2022, the government outlined it’s new ‘Jet Zero’ strategy, which commits the UK domestic aviation industry to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. A crucial part of their roadmap involves the mandated use of SAF for 10% of all fuel use by 2030.
Victor is well on track to achieve this goal and encourages the wider aviation sector to adopt similar SAF solutions to its model with Neste. Since Victor and Neste launched their direct-to-customer SAF solution in June 2022, Victor has seen one in five customers choosing to buy SAF for their bookings. The slider on Victor’s booking platform allows the customer to choose to replace a percentage of their fossil jet fuel for SAF from 5% up to 100%. So far, people are purchasing an average of 31% for their bookings which equates to an average additional cost of around €800 per jet charter booking. Victor and Neste are pleased to reveal that the total amount of SAF purchased since the partnership launched is 97,324 kgs with total carbon emission reduction of 278 tonnes. All volumes can be attributed back to each individual customer’s contribution, for which they receive a Delivery Confirmation to use for annual carbon reporting purposes against Science Based Targets (SBT).
How the Victor x Neste ‘pay here, use there’ solution works
1. At checkout during the booking process, all Victor customers can now easily choose how much fossil fuel they want to replace with Neste MY SAF™, from as little as 5% up to 100%.
2. The charter booking receipt will itemise exactly how much Neste MY SAF™ the customer has purchased.
3. Victor customers will not charter using the Neste MY SAF™ they have purchased for their own flight. However, Neste ensures that the specific SAF volume purchased is delivered to one of their partner airlines to be utilised, ensuring the carbon emission reduction is achieved. This ‘pay here, use their’ model provides real in-sector climate benefits as there is a clear chain of custody.
4. To avoid any confusion in case of changes – for instance; to the exact aircraft booked, the flight itinerary, or a cancellation – Neste will only deliver the SAF purchased by the Victor customer to their partner airline after all legs of their booking been flown.
5. Neste will then send a Delivery Confirmation to the Victor customer, detailing the carbon emission reduction achieved, which can be used for their annual science-based reporting.
Neste’s SAF
Neste MY SAF™ is already in production and available to use today – unlike SAF that has not yet been produced, or SAF credits. It is produced from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials, such as used cooking oil and animal fat waste.
Image: Ashim D’Silva – Unsplash
