Tackling Aviation’s Sustainability Challenge: Sustainable Skies World Congress 2025

The aviation industry is at a pivotal moment. With the climate crisis accelerating, airlines, regulators, fuel producers, and technology innovators gathered once again at the Sustainable Skies World Congress to discuss how aviation can continue moving toward net zero emissions by 2050.

The path isn’t straightforward – balancing short-term solutions with breakthrough technologies, aligning global efforts, and overcoming economic and regulatory hurdles remains complex. Despite this, we continue striving to minimise our carbon footprint and reduce the aviation industry’s environmental impact.

Here’s a deep dive into the key themes from this year’s event…

Eye-opening statistics

Several headline statistics highlighted the urgency of action. Airspace modernisation is predicted to contribute between 5-10% of an airline’s net zero roadmap, highlighting the importance of operational efficiencies alongside technological advances.

Sustainability teams across the globe took the opportunity to collaborate, with airline partners such as TUI preparing fuel-efficient showcase flights as early as October, showcasing progress on sustainable practices.

Balancing technologies and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

Hydrogen-powered aircraft, expected to debut with smaller fleets by 2025, offer revolutionary potential. However, the supply of SAF, especially bio-based, is finite and unlikely to meet growing demand by 2030. This gap emphasises the critical role of airspace modernisation in reducing overall fuel burn.

The carbon intensity of SAF is also tied to hydrogen production, which currently depends on carbon-intensive electricity. This highlights the intertwined challenges of decarbonising the electricity grid to enable truly green hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

Speakers debated the balance between bio-SAF and e-SAF (electro-fuels), noting regional caps on bio-feedstocks and higher costs associated with these fuels. Scaling production and reducing costs over time is vital.

The critical role of airspace modernisation

Airspace modernisation emerged as a vital, immediate lever for reducing emissions. While aircraft technology advances steadily, optimising the airspace and flight paths can deliver tangible CO₂ reductions today, offsetting the impact of growth.

Since 2007, NATS has tracked how it’s day-to-day actions and airspace modernisation programme have improved UK airspace efficiency. This has cumulatively enabled 1.8 million tonnes of CO₂ savings per annum within UK airspace – roughly the emissions from the energy use of 450,000 homes, that’s equivalent to twice the number of occupied dwellings in Manchester (214,615 – Source: Census 2021).

Understanding and addressing non-CO₂ emissions

Non-CO₂ emissions, including nitrogen oxides, particulates, and cirrus cloud formation from contrails, represent a complex climate challenge. These effects often have shorter atmospheric lifetimes but contribute significantly to warming. Contrails remain an important topic, with initiatives like SESAR’s ‘CICONIA’ project focusing on operational strategies to minimise their impact.

Of course, we’re partners in the CICONIA consortium and continue to connect with academics to better understand what future operational responses will be needed. The focus on this subject at the summit reassured me that being closely involved is the right thing for us to do.

Airspace modernisation also plays a pivotal role in contrail mitigation, an underappreciated but powerful non-CO₂ climate factor. Research shows SAF can reduce contrail formation and operational trials, such as working with NATS to reroute flights to avoid contrail-forming conditions, are promising areas of progress for the industry.

Economic and regulatory challenges

Decarbonising aviation isn’t just about technology – it requires strong regulatory support, clear economic incentives and industry transparency. The soaring cost of jet fuel has a direct impact on ticket prices, yet the industry already faces heavy taxation and operating costs compared to other industries.

Several speakers highlighted the need for open environmental performance reporting across the industry. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) aims to make sustainability reporting more transparent and accountable, allowing regulation to better address climate challenges. Clear, performance-based policies and mandates are critical for evidencing benefits.

Global co-ordination and collaboration

It seems that everyone has a decarbonisation roadmap these days. This is a good thing as it shows we’re putting in the focus required to show what is required. But the stark differences we see in sustainability roadmaps and standards around the world can hamper progress. The aviation industry must strive for global alignment, sharing best practices, standardising metrics and fostering joint SAF initiatives.

Overall, there was a sense that the road to net zero aviation by 2050 is still hugely challenging but achievable with radical collaboration, smart regulation and innovation. Hydrogen aircraft hold promise for the future, but sustainable aviation fuels and airspace modernisation remain essential today. Addressing non-CO₂ emissions, scaling carbon removals, and accelerating regulatory change are equally vital.

Importantly, industry leaders stressed the value of doing what can be done now, even if it means prioritising quicker, smaller improvements over waiting for large-scale breakthroughs. Maintaining momentum and public trust in sustainability efforts will determine whether aviation can truly soar toward a cleaner, greener future.

NATS is committed to being a net zero company by 2035 and carbon negative by 2040, while supporting the industry on its journey to net zero by 2050. To find out more, our Transition Plan lays out NATS’ key targets over the next five years.