VOLOTEA CUTS CO₂ EMISSIONS 51%, SURPASSING 2030 GOAL SIX YEARS EARLY

 

Volotea, the airline of small and medium-sized European cities, has surpassed its 2030 target of cutting direct CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometer by 50%—six years ahead of schedule. By the end of 2024, the airline had already achieved a 51% reduction.

This milestone allows Volotea to set new, more ambitious targets. The airline is now committed to reducing emissions per passenger-kilometer by 55% by 2030 compared with 2012. The progress achieved so far has been driven by more than 50 initiatives introduced since the airline began operations in 2012, all focused on continuously cutting fuel consumption and advancing a more responsible, environmentally conscious business model.

According to Gloria Carreras, ESG Director at Volotea: “Achieving this milestone six years early shows that our mission of improving connectivity across Europe’s small and mid-sized cities is not at odds with our ambition to do so more efficiently. It also confirms that sustainability is an essential part of our strategy and how we understand growth. This achievement encourages us to keep raising the bar with new, realistic yet challenging goals, like the ones we’ve just presented, to continue reducing our emissions and, together with the sector, advance in making aviation more sustainable.”

This is the fourth consecutive year that Volotea’s sustainability strategy, Voloterra, has undergone an external audit. On this occasion, the airline worked with EQA, a leading international body in management system and sustainability certification. The process began several months ago, with Volotea’s results now officially verified.

VOLOTERRA: A FIVE-PILLAR PLAN

Volotea’s sustainability strategy is built on five key pillars:

1. Efficient connectivity model: Volotea connects more than 100 destinations in Europe through direct, non-stop routes, avoiding 56% of the emissions a connecting flight would generate, according to the airline’s analysis. Maximizing load factors is another core element of its business model, with an average load factor of 90% since 2018, rising to 91% in 2024. In addition, none of the routes operated by Volotea can be traveled by train in less than three hours, and for 93% of its flights, the equivalent train journey would take longer than six hours.
2. CO₂ reduction per passenger-kilometer: Since its launch, the airline has implemented more than 50 initiatives to reduce fuel consumption, both in aircraft maintenance and operations. Among the main projects contributing to this reduction was a fleet renewal in 2021, when Volotea moved from operating Boeing 717s to a fleet that now includes 41 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, which are more efficient. Another example is an agreement signed with Airbus in 2024, through which Volotea integrated the company’s Descent Profile Optimization (DPO) system across its fleet. This initiative has reduced up to 958 tons of CO₂ since the system’s initial implementation in 2019.
3. Increased use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Since 2022, the airline has utilized more than 2.4 million liters of SAF on its flights. The airline also operates Airbus’ Hamburg–Toulouse shuttle with SAF under an agreement with the company in place since September 2022. In 2024, the service ran with an average 21% SAF blend—well above the industry average. Volotea also works with several partners to advance SAF development, including Moeve and Repsol in Spain, TotalEnergies in France, and Enilive in Italy, among others.
4. Commitment to innovation and development: Volotea has invested in Dovetail Electric Aviation, a company making significant progress in developing the first commercial electric aircraft, with the first prototype expected to fly in 2026. In addition, in 2025 Volotea became the first European airline to collaborate with 280 Earth (developed at Google X), a leader in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology. This advanced carbon removal technology extracts carbon dioxide (CO₂) directly from the air, helping to reduce greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
5. Transparency and verification: For the fourth consecutive year, Volotea’s sustainability strategy, Voloterra, has been externally audited by internationally recognized verifiers, reaffirming its commitment to reducing CO₂ emissions and advancing the decarbonization of the aviation sector.

Volotea is firmly convinced that progress in sustainability will be achieved through collaboration among all key industry stakeholders. For this reason, the airline actively works with sector associations and organizations, taking part in the sustainability working groups of IATA, A4E, ALA, FNAM, and Aicalf to advance jointly toward shared sustainability goals.

For more information on Voloterra, visit: https://www.volotea.com/en/sustainability/.

Tags: Gloria Carreras,  Volotea