Speaking at Abta’s Travel Convention in Marrakech, Tim Alderslade said the UK had a chance to become “a world leader” in SAF production but warned current infrastructure would struggle to deliver government targets of having the cleaner fuel account for 10% of supply by 2030.

“If [the government] can build a SAF industry in the UK, then we can really motor. Without SAF we can’t get to net-zero emissions as an industry by 2050,” he said, describing how ministers could revitalise post-industrial areas of the UK, such as Humberside and South Wales, by investing in SAF facilities.

Alderslade said he believed “growth and green” would be the mantras of recently installed transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, although admitted that despite “encouraging noises” from Liz Truss during the Conservative party leadership election, “the jury was still out” on her sustainability credentials. 

Speaking alongside Alderslade, Abta’s director of industry relations Susan Deer, said the association was finding smaller member businesses were struggling to know where to start when it came to decarbonising.

She encouraged businesses to make small changes and not to think solely about reducing transportation’s impact on the planet but also accommodation and other suppliers.

“It’s about looking at the whole supply chain and just not the environmental element – but the social side too,” she said. “How does what you’re doing benefit the local communities in which you operate?”

EasyJet holidays’ director of customer and operations, Matt Callaghan, said it was up to “big players to step up” within the industry to drive more sustainable practices.

He revealed the operator would soon be piloting a scheme in one of its top-selling, all-inclusive hotels in Tenerife to measure food waste. Callaghan told delegates AI would be used to forecast guest consumption and see where waste was occurring.

If successful, he said the approach could be rolled out to more hotels in easyJet holidays’ portfolio.