Sustainability In The Air

In this episode, we speak with Rachel Gardner-Poole, GAIN steering group chair and sustainable aviation consultant at NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic control provider. Gardner-Poole shares how GAIN (Green Aviation Insights Network) is bringing together air navigation service providers from around the world to optimise flight paths and reduce emissions using tools and insights that can deliver results today. She discusses:GAIN’s dual purpose: A global collaboration of air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and a dashboard tool that measures airspace efficiency, enabling ANSPs to identify inefficiencies, benchmark performance by airline and route, and track CO2 emissions in real time.Why airspace efficiency matters now: Whilst SAF faces supply constraints and hydrogen aircraft remain years away, airspace optimisation can deliver immediate carbon savings. Breaking down communication barriers: How misaligned assumptions between airlines and air traffic controllers often lead to suboptimal flight paths, and how GAIN’s data visualisation enables targeted conversations to unlock tactical savings.The founding members’ impact: With five founding members helping shape the tool, GAIN could save over 450,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.Addressing greenwashing concerns: Unlike complex carbon credit schemes or predictive modelling, GAIN uses real, verifiable flight path data.Future expansion plans: The goal is to reach 40% of the world’s 160 ANSPs by 2030, with potential features including non-CO2 effects like contrails, and partnerships with organisations across the aviation sector.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Sian Andrews, SESAR Environmental Lead at NATS, who shares how air traffic management can reduce aviation’s environmental impact. Check it out here. Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2’. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & More:NATS Green Aviation Insights (GAIN) - NATS NATS and leading ANSPs unite to drive sustainable aviation through a novel data-driven insights tool - CANSONATS environmental initiative GAIN-ing momentum - Aviation Week Network  

In this special year-end episode, we explore conversations with industry leaders revealing where sustainable aviation truly stands in 2025.Matt Gorman, Director of Carbon Strategy at Heathrow Airport, reveals airports control just 0.1% of their carbon footprint directly but use landing charges to incentivise SAF adoption.Tamara Vrooman, CEO of Vancouver Airport, explains moving their net-zero target forward to 2030 by leveraging control of central infrastructure.Lena Wennberg, Chief Sustainable Development Officer, and Therese Forsström, Head of Environmental Department at Swedavia, explain achieving fossil-free operations in 2020 and how they are looking to support fossil-free domestic flights in Sweden by 2030.Aaron Robinson, Vice President of SAF at International Airlines Group, identifies airlines’ reluctance to adopt SAF as a cultural problem rooted in safety-first mindsets that resist innovation.Matthew Ridley, Director of Sustainability at The oneworld Alliance, discusses their $150 million fund with Breakthrough Energy Ventures for next-generation SAF.Trevor Best, CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics, details their photocatalytic technology converting biogas into SAF at smaller scales, targeting jet fuel parity.Tim Boeltken of INERATEC explains their modular e-fuel technology deployable wherever green hydrogen is produced.Marc Allen, CEO of Electra, describes how electric aircraft will succeed by enabling new capabilities like 150-foot takeoffs rather than competing with jet fuel.Billy Thalheimer of Regent introduces Seagliders – wing-in-ground effect vehicles offering new transportation for coastal routes.Jolanda Stevens, Program Manager for Zero Emission Aviation at KLM, emphasises airlines’ responsibility in enabling hydrogen and electric aircraft.Luke Farajallah, CEO of Loganair, discusses how their mandatory £1 carbon levy receives almost no passenger complaints.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love all the conversations we had through the year with dozens of industry executives, technology leaders and scientists. Check out the archive here. Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2’. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & More:Book: Sustainability in the Air, Vol Two - SimpliFlyingSustainable Aviation Outlook Report 2025 - SimpliFlying  

In this episode, we speak with Nanna Baldvinsdottir, co-founder of IðunnH2, about how Iceland’s unique energy system could turn the country into a green fuel bridge between Europe and North America. A veteran of Iceland’s power sector, Nanna has spent two decades working in renewables before turning to hydrogen and e-fuels development.Nanna shares how IðunnH2 is developing a 300 MW, ~70,000 tonne-per-year e-SAF project near Keflavík International Airport, designed first to decarbonise Icelandic aviation and only then supply the wider world via book-and-claim. She explains why social licence for new wind power, local energy security, and predictable permitting make Iceland a testbed for scaling e-fuels where other regions are still stuck on the drawing board.Nanna discusses:Why SAF, not hydrogen export, came out on top in IðunnH2’s feasibility work – and how switching mid-study unlocked a path to true commercial scale rather than niche pilot projects.The Helguvík project: locating a commercial-scale e-kerosene facility a stone’s throw from Iceland’s main international airport, using 100% renewable power contracted via long-term PPAs.Book-and-claim as a strategic tool: using it to serve committed early partners like Luxaviation and other motivated buyers outside Iceland, while keeping the bulk of production for Icelandic decarbonisation.Moving beyond “Jet A price parity”: why chasing price parity with fossil jet fuel misses the point since jet fuel is heavily subsidised and untaxed, and how 15-year price stability can be more valuable to airlines than simply being the cheapest.Her role as a “system builder”: why e-fuel plants are far more complex than traditional power projects, and what it takes to keep partners aligned on timelines, risk, margins, and ambition.The wider Icelandic hydrogen roadmap: how aviation, maritime, and road transport could all draw on the same hydrogen and e-fuels backbone as the market matures.Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book “Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2.” Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & more:IðunnH2Why Iceland? - IðunnH2SAF – IðunnH2Hydrogen and E-fuels Roadmap for IcelandNanna Baldvinsdottir - LinkedInEU ReFuelEU Aviation Mandate

In this episode, we speak with Billy Thalheimer, co-founder and CEO of REGENT, who shares how the company is redefining travel with their all-electric Seagliders. Thalheimer discusses:Solving the regional travel gap: How seagliders address the transportation problem on 50–200 mile coastal routes, creating a faster, cheaper, and greener alternative for the 40% of the world’s population living in coastal communities.Three breakthrough technologies in one vehicle: How REGENT combines wing-in-ground effect aerodynamics, hydrofoil systems (providing five feet of wave tolerance).Maritime certification, not aviation: Why seagliders operate as vessels under Coast Guard and IMO jurisdiction rather than FAA oversight, with operators certificated as master mariners rather than pilots—solving the regional pilot shortage whilst creating a six-week training pathway for professional mariners.Commercial and defence applications at scale: How REGENT has secured over $10 billion in orders from airlines, ferry operators, and energy companies, with use cases ranging from commuter services to offshore wind farm logistics and military operations.Infrastructure advantage and electrification: Why existing docks can accommodate Seagliders with minimal modification, creating “high-speed rail without the billions in rail infrastructure” whilst leveraging emerging port electrification efforts from the cruise and ferry industries.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Nathan Millecam, President & CEO of Electric Power Systems (EP Systems), where he talks about designing the ideal battery to power electric aircraft. Check it out here. Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2’. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & More:REGENT Craft REGENT Craft successfully conducts high-speed test of its electric ‘Seaglider’ - MSNThis ‘flying boat’ could be the future of travel in Scotland - The Independent REGENT lands major order for 27 all-electric seagliders to advance coastal mobility - Offshore Energy

In this special compilation episode, recorded live at the Dubai Airshow 2025, five aviation industry leaders share their perspectives on whether the Middle East can balance rapid aviation growth with sustainability goals.Featuring insights from:Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai AirportsJulien Manhès, Head of SAF and CDR, AirbusYousif Bin Saeed Al Lootah, CEO, Lootah BiofuelsDarren Hulst, Vice President of Commercial Marketing, BoeingMichel Azar-Hmouda, President of Commercial Aviation, CAETogether, they answer one central question: where does the Middle East have the greatest opportunity to lead in sustainable aviation, and what could stand in the way? Throughout the episode, the aviation leaders explore the region’s unique advantages, including large scale infrastructure, abundant renewable energy, strategic geography, and strong political commitment, positioning it as a proving ground for next generation sustainable aviation technologies. They also address the challenges that can potentially threaten progress, from workforce development and supply chain alignment to the difficulty of turning ambition into reality.This is a compilation of highlights from five in-depth conversations. Stay tuned for the full interviews on our Sustainability In The Air platform.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love all the conversations we had through the year with dozens of industry executives, technology leaders and scientists. Check out the archive here. Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2’. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Sponsor message: This episode was recorded live in partnership with the Dubai Airshow 2025 and CAE.For nearly 80 years, CAE has delivered cutting-edge training and simulation solutions across 240 sites in over 40 countries, preparing aviation professionals for critical moments while putting sustainability at the center of what they do.