More than greenwashing? Sustainable aviation fuels struggle to take off

Enlarge / Sustainable aviation fuels could help cut carbon emissions from commercial flights.
(credit: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Last November, Virgin Atlantic Airways made headlines for completing the world’s first transatlantic flight using “100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.”

This week, the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) of the U.K. banned a Virgin radio ad released prior to the flight, in which they touted their “unique flight mission.” While Virgin did use fuel that releases fewer emissions than traditional supplies, the regulatory agency deemed the company’s sustainability claim “misleading” because it failed to give a full picture of the adverse environmental and climate impacts of fuel.

“It’s important that claims for sustainable aviation fuel spell out what the reality is, so consumers aren’t misled into thinking that the flight they are taking is greener than it really is,” Miles Lockwood, director of complaints and investigations at the ASA, said in a statement.