The International Air Transport Association and ATPCO are teaming up to provide carbon emissions data for flights.
ATPCO will integrate IATA's CO2 Connect data later this year into its new “Routehappy Amenity” application programming interface. Sustainability insights will be added to the API, which helps travel sellers convey features such as seat type, Wi-Fi and entertainment options at the time of booking.
“We know customers want to understand their flight’s environmental impact in a consistent, transparent and trustworthy way,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, who signed the agreement Tuesday with Alex Zoghlin, president and CEO of ATPCO during the 79th IATA Annual General Meeting.
Zoghlin agreed. "It's clear there is a growing interest from passengers, corporate, travel management companies and travel agents to receive CO2 information so they can use it to compare flights and make a more sustainable choice," he said.
The current data that IATA has covers actual fuel-burn data from 74 aircraft types representing about 98% of active global passenger fleet. ATPCO’s global distribution reach of its merchandising content covers nearly all major commercial airlines and more than 65 third-party sales channels and systems.
Meanwhile, CleanJoule, a U.S.-based startup focused on the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), recently announced a $50 million investment round led by the principals of Indigo Partners, a private equity firm based in the United States.
Funds raised from the round will support the further development of CleanJoule’s technology to produce high-performance SAF from agricultural residues and other waste biomass more cost-effectively.
As part of the investment deal, U.S.-based Frontier Airlines, Europe-based Wizz Air and Mexico-based Volaris signed agreements to purchase up to 90 million gallons of SAF.
“There has never been a more crucial time for us to lead the change than through viable sustainable fuel alternatives,” said Mukund Karanjikar, co-founder and CEO of CleanJoule. “As we advance on the commercialization of our fuel technology, CleanJoule is well-positioned to scale the supply of SAFs in the market and shorten the runway in the transition towards a greener aviation industry.”