SAS has launched two new biofuel SAF tickets to make it easier for travellers to fly more sustainably. Called Go Smart and Plus Pro, the tickets will be available on all SAS domestic, Scandinavian and European flights, the airline says. it adds that the two ticket types include the cost of approximately 50% biofuel SAF, which is calculated on an average journey, corresponding to approximately 60 minutes on Swedish or Norwegian domestic, 60 minutes within Scandinavia, 35 minutes on Danish domestic or 90 minutes on European flights. The amount of biofuel SAF purchased will be used to replace the equivalent amount of fossil fuel in SAS's operations. The airline says the purchase of biofuel SAF will take place within 12 months and it will make no profit from the purchase. "Our journey toward a more sustainable aviation continues and by increasing the use of biofuel we are bridging the gap to zero-emission flights," says SAS's head of sustainability Ann-Sofie Horlin. "We know it is important for our customers, both leisure and corporate, to actively take part in these efforts and SAS Bio will fill this demand."

Finnair plans to axe two of its shortest domestic routes "due to economic and environmental considerations" and replace them with bus connections. This will end the Oneworld carrier's air links to Turku and Tampere from Helsinki at the end of the month. Bus services will begin on 1 May. Finnair has already replaced its midday flight from there cities with busses to reduce carbon emissions.. "The flights to Tampere and Turku are very short, and the relatively low passenger numbers – around 35% load factors – on these routes cause them to have a higher CO2 emission per passenger than many other short routes in our network, " states Perttu Jolma, Finnair's vice-president for network. "Road, or rail, transportation is a more sustainable option for connections between Helsinki airport and these cities." The scheduled flight times to Turku and Tampere are both 35min, but the actual flight times are about 25min.

Air traffic manager Eurocontrol has increased its projections for flight activity for 2023 and 2024 on the back of evidence for "vivid pent-up demand". It cites strong bookings and strong tourism flows, in particular to leisure destinations in southern Europe, fuelling a strong bounceback in capacity. To date this year, capacity, as measured by average flight movements per day, has recovered to 86% of 2019 levels across the continent. Last year it was 83% and in 2021, 56%. Eurocontrol expects the total number of flight movements in Europe to reach 10.3 million this year, rising to 10.9 million in 2024. In 2019, it came in at 11.1 million, which is Eurocontrol's expectation for 2025. However, the overall picture hides large regional differences. Some countries in southeastern Europe rose above their 2019 activity levels last year, as measured by services operating in flight zones. Greece was up by 1%, Macedonia by 5% and Albania by 13%. Croatia was level. Northeastern Europe has been hit by the lack of overflights from Russia, while Ukrainian traffic was down 90%, with activity having been relatively normal up until the point of Russia's invasion. In France, Germany and the UK, activity was down 12%, 20% and 17%, respectively. After 2025, growth in flight activity is forecast to slow down "owing to the greater uncertainties within the seven-year horizon", such as higher inflation, pressure on oil prices, and environmental concerns, Eurocontrol believes. It also notes that budget carriers are "consistently outperforming mainline and regional sectors" through the recovery, ending last year with a market share of 32.3%, just behind mainline carriers on 32.4%, and that load factors are rising back towards the levels seen pre-pandemic. The latest projection is part of Eurocontrol’s seven-year forecast to 2029.