Speaking during a panel session at Spain’s inaugural Sustainability Day on Wednesday (26 April), policy director for the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) Cait Hewitt said there are "huge uncertainties" over the sector’s carbon reduction goals and aviation is "nowhere near where it needs to be". 

"There is no doubt that flying brings benefits but if those benefits come at the expense of a liveable planet, then that cost is too high," she said.

"This is not an easy message, but responding to the climate emergency means we must be prepared to do everything differently, and I urge you to be more collective and imaginative on how we do tourism more sustainably in the future."

Hewitt said zero-emission aircraft will only be able to operate on short-haul routes, and the number of flights that have the capacity to fly without producing emissions this side of 2050 "will be small".

She was joined on the panel by moderator and executive producer and founder of Green Traveller Richard Hammond; Teresa Parejo, head of sustainability for Iberia; David Martin, managing director of new products and tourist trains for Renfe; and easyJet director of sustainability Jane Ashton. 

In response to Hewitt’s outlook on the future of aviation, Ashton, while sharing Hewitt’s frustration over the speed in which things are moving in terms of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production, said the industry "has to be realistic". 

Ashton claimed 70 million tourists travelled to Spain last year, of which 60 million travelled by air. 

"And that was still in a Covid recovery year, so that figure is not going to decrease any time soon and we can’t transfer all of those people to rail. If they were to drive, the impact would be even greater," she reasoned.

"We have to be imaginative and radical with technologies which are available now, or fast approaching."

Ashton predicted there will be an uptick in SAF production over the next few years and is hopeful short-haul air travel will begin to reap the benefits of hydrogen fuel options.

Meanwhile, Parejo argued aviation "is not the only problem", and instead claimed the industry "needs to change the whole system".

"Aviation represents between 2% and 3% of total global emissions, which doesn’t mean we need to stop decarbonising, but it is not the only thing we need to do.

"How can we fly long-haul in a more sustainable way? SAF. I know it’s not the best – or most sustainable – option, but we are talking about a transition, which means we need to find different ways and different technologies to reach zero emissions."

Being ‘realistic’

However, Hewitt countered: "I suppose I’m not ready to go into a room saying ‘most of the emissions come from long-haul, so we will just do the best we can’ – I find that hard to swallow."

"This idea that we ‘have to be realistic’ – does that mean we will fail? Does that mean we won’t achieve net zero by 2050 as every other sector is committed to? I can’t accept that."

Martin, meanwhile, questioned the need for domestic flights when most European countries now have high speed rail connections. 

"More people in Spain are shifting into trains from cars," he added. "We have to look at new possibilities in the future, and we have to look at the integration system now before it’s too late."