Oneworld Airline Partners Join With Breakthrough Energy Ventures to Invest in New SAF Technologies

The oneworld Alliance and major airline members, plus a prominent member of the rival Star Alliance, have partnered with Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), the green investment platform established by Bill Gates, in a new $150 million investment fund to identify, accelerate and commercialise technologies which deliver affordable supplies of sustainable aviation fuels. Cornerstone investors in the oneworld BEV Fund are the world’s largest airline company, American Airlines, and the expanding Alaska Airlines Group, which are joined by Europe’s International Airlines Group (IAG), Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines, all from oneworld, plus marquee outsider Singapore Airlines from Star Alliance. Breakthrough will be the fund’s investment manager, contributing technical expertise and broad experience in backing start-up climate technology companies.

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The oneworld BEV Fund is the latest in a string of global initiatives designed to help accelerate SAF production as pressure increases on airlines to reduce their carbon emissions while demand for air travel continues to surge and supply chain disruption delays deliveries of new aircraft and engines, forcing the extended use of older, higher-emitting fleets.

American and the rapidly expanding Alaska Air Group, which recently acquired Hawaiian Airlines, are the two anchor airline partners in the oneworld BEV fund.

European aviation group IAG, owner of two key oneworld carriers, British Airways and Iberia, reiterated that SAF was the most viable pathway for the aviation industry to achieve net zero targets, but urged greater support from governments to increase production and use of alternative fuels.

In Asia-Pacific, the largest and fastest-growing aviation region, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Singapore Airlines have all signed up as launch partners in the new investment platform.