Earlier this month, Saudia offset a total of 346 tons of carbon emissions, for commercial passenger flight SV227, from Jeddah to Madrid, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with a total flight time of five hours and 55 minutes. Flight SV227 departed from King Abdulaziz International Airport at 10:30 a.m. and arrived at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport at 1:35 p.m. local time.
This flight is Saudia’s entry into the Sustainable Flight Challenge, an initiative by SkyTeam, one of the world’s three major airline alliances. The challenge seeks inspiration from the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from London to Melbourne.
The flight is also equipped with the world’s first in-flight sustainability lab, where passengers can contribute ideas on how air travel can become “greener.”
Saudia’s participation in SkyTeam’s Sustainable Flight Challenge is part of a broader commitment by the airline to continually improve its environmental performance.
“The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 will see 100 million visits to Saudi Arabia by the end of the decade,” said Saudia CEO Captain Ibrahim Koshy. “A cornerstone of that vision is for the Kingdom to be a leader in sustainable and even regenerative tourism.
“Saudia has decided to go above and beyond to not only ensure that this flight was carbon-neutral but net-positive. This partnership can serve as a model for the future,” added Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying.
Michelle Noordermeer, chief operating officer at CarbonClick, said: “Saudia is setting a huge example by showing what can be done now, carbon offsetting, and using quality carbon credits as a powerful way to remove carbon and neutralise the impacts of radiative forcing.”
CarbonClick will offset flight SV227 by applying the contribution from Saudia to the generation of clean wind electricity for communities in India.
