Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest-growing and most environmentally sustainable airline globally*, supports the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, recently adopted by the European Parliament.
Yvonne Moynihan, Corporate and ESG Officer at Wizz Air, said: “As Europe’s leading airline in terms of emissions intensity reduction, Wizz Air has supported the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation proposal since its inception. The European Union is the standard setter in global climate policy and the ReFuel EU legislation establishes minimum shares of SAF to be blended with conventional aviation fuel which are binding. The adoption of these mandates will boost the supply of SAF which is critical to improve the availability and cost of SAF. Wizz Air has started preparing for the upcoming EU mandates by partnering with SAF producers and making our first equity investments in SAF research and development. We see industry collaboration on the development of alternative fuels as one of the most impactful ways to address the current climate challenge and we remain committed to reduce our carbon intensity by 25% by 2030. It is critical for national governments to now consider incentives to enable the ramp up in production.”
Wizz Air has established its SAF strategy, which includes securing offtake agreements with suppliers for the future and has already signed agreements with Mabanaft/P2X Europe, OMV, Neste and Cepsa. In 2023 Wizz Air also made its first £5 million equity investment in a British biofuel company, Firefly, and participated in $50 million investment in CleanJoule, a US-based biofuel start-up, to further drive SAF research and development.
In the fiscal year 2023**, Wizz Air achieved the carbon emissions intensity of 53.8 grams per passenger/km, a decrease by 11% compared to the previous fiscal year performance***. This is Wizz Air’s lowest ever recorded result for one fiscal year and the lowest performance among major competitor airlines****.
* According to the CAPA – Centre for Aviation Awards for Excellence 2022
** 1 April, 2022 – 31 March, 2023
*** 60.7 grams per passenger/km in F22 (1 April, 2021 – 31 March, 2022)
**** Based on the latest publicly disclosed emission information applicable to a 12-month period (Ryanair, EasyJet). Due to differences in reporting period, the figures and timeframe are not fully aligned.
