The UK's new transport secretary has vowed to “fix the barriers” to the expansion of the country's aviation industry, promising support for sustainable aviation fuel production, airspace reform and airport expansion. Speaking at the Airlines UK conference in London on 25 November, Louise Haigh repeatedly linked the health of the UK’s airlines to the government’s oft-stated ambition of driving economic growth, particularly in the north of the country. Coming amid preparation for a new national industrial strategy, the government believes airlines are key to facilitating exports, but Haigh also notes the importance of connectivity to the UK’s dominant service sector. She identifies the opportunity for the country to take a lead in the scaled production of SAF, which could provide vast economic change through to the middle of the century as the sector decarbonises. Airline industry body IATA estimates the transition to net zero by 2050 will cost between $3.8-$8.1 trillion. Policies to encourage SAF adoption include a mandate from next year and a coming revenue certainty mechanism for producers. “There's a very live debate around [the policy] at the moment, so we want to make sure that it's absolutely the right mechanism, that it's set at the right strike price to encourage investment here,” she says, referencing the level set for the pricing of low-carbon fuels. Echoing some of the industry speakers onstage, she states that, in her view, SAF would be indispensable for decarbonising long-haul flights, but that hydrogen could take a more prominent role for flights over shorter distances. Reaching net-zero “would not mean flying less, but flying differently”, she says. The previous government’s Jet Zero Council, which was designed to guide policy towards low-carbon flying, has been rebranded as the Jet Zero Taskforce, with a new membership and structure that will look at “very practical and solution focussed” ways to reduce carbon, meeting for the first time next week. The previous council had become “quite a large talking shop”, Haigh says, with little to show for it. Haigh also promised to “always” back the expansion of the UK’s airports, providing projects drive economic growth and are consistent with net-zero targets, a sentiment that received a boost later in the day when Thomas Woldbye, the chief executive of Heathrow airport, who disclosed that the facility was taking a renewed look at a third runway and he hoped a decision would be made by the end of 2025. Gatwick's chief executive Stewart Wingate also discussed the facility's plans to bring a second runway into everyday use, increasing capacity at the gateway. Likewise with airspace reform, Haigh noted that the UK hadn’t “seen a major upgrade since the 1950s”. A new UK airspace design service is being launched which will be “a single mind focused on delivering change”, that would not only drive decarbonisation but boosting economic growth, dovetailing with the government’s wider ambitions for the country. "Growing aviation to grow Britain, that is this government's vision," she says, continuing that: “Nobody should be under any illusion that aviation isn’t incredibly important to this department, but also to this government, because it underpins so many of our national missions.”

EasyJet has signed a memorandum of understanding with Braathens Renavia, Mana Group, and World Fuel Services to secure up to 150,000 tons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from 2030. The carrier says the agreement includes up to 75,000 tons of e-SAF, to be produced through biomass and solid waste gasification, enhanced by renewable hydrogen. The production method is expected to deliver over 90% carbon reduction. WFS will manage the logistics, blending, storage, and regulatory compliance for the fuel supply in the European Union and United Kingdom. Earlier this month EasyJet and Airbus announced a trial of a partnership aimed at stimulating demand for SAF by sharing the costs and benefits with corporate customers. The trial will see WFS upload SAF on EasyJet flights at Toulouse-Blagnac airport, with Airbus issued non-tradeable SAF certificates that can be used to meet its Scope 3 emissions reporting obligations.

Emirates has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350 aircraft. The aircraft, registered as A6-EXA, is the first of 65 A350s it expects to receive over the next few years. The delivery also marks the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates' fleet since 2008. The carrier says the delivery flight was powered by a blend of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The aircraft will officially enter commercial service in January when it makes its debut flight to its first destination, Edinburgh, followed by eight other destinations across the Middle East, West Asia, and Europe, it adds.