Environmental sustainability

CO2 emissions is the single most pressing issue for any airline, and we need to act. In order to continue to benefit from the social and economic good flying brings to our lives, we are committed to reducing the carbon emissions of flying.

We have set a science-based target to reduce our carbon emissions intensity (CO2e/RTK) by 34.5% by 2033 from a 2023 baseline. The target has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). For the long-term, we are together with our industry aiming towards net-zero emissions by 2050.

What does science-based climate target mean?

The SBTi independently assesses companies’ climate goals to ensure they align with the latest climate science. Climate targets validated by the SBTi guide companies on how much and how quickly they need to reduce their carbon emissions to meet the Paris Agreement's goals – limiting global warming to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial levels.

Our toolkit to reaching the target comprises of investing in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) beyond regulatory requirements, further improving operational efficiency, optimising our network and eventually updating our fleet renewal plan. The SBTi requires airlines to decarbonise within their own operations, which means no offsetting is included in achieving our mid-term target.

Finnair’s science-based target in detail

  • Our SBTi target requires us to reduce our carbon emissions intensity (CO2e/RTK) by 34.5% by 2033, using 2023 as the baseline year. This target translates into an approximate 13% reduction in our absolute carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions over this period. The absolute emissions reduction is an estimated figure based on variables such as annual growth forecasts, which may change in the future.
  • Carbon emissions intensity is defined as the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2e) emissions per revenue tonne kilometre (RTK), which is a measure of passenger and cargo payload carried by Finnair. In 2023, our carbon emissions intensity was 976 CO2e/RTK.
  • The target encompasses 'well-to-wake' emissions that accounts for the complete lifecycle emissions from the jet fuel used by us, including direct emissions from the use of jet fuel in flight (scope 1) as well as indirect emissions from the extraction, production, and distribution of that fuel (scope 3, category 3).
  • We will monitor and annually report our progress against the target to the SBTi and in our sustainability reports.

Our key actions for future CO2 reduction

  • We aim to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) together with the oneworld alliance, which has set a common aspirational goal of achieving a 10 per cent level in SAF uptake by 2030. Our biofuel partner is Finland-based Neste, the world's largest producer of SAF refined from waste.
  • We decrease the weight of our aircraft, as it directly impacts fuel burn and emissions. This is a joint effort by everyone working with aircraft purchases, cockpit, cabin, service design, cargo, and technical services at Finnair.
  • We continue to invest in fuel efficiency, every day, with every single flight. This means fuel-efficient flight planning, reducing the operative weight of the aircraft, and operating each flight as fuel efficiently as possible. Our pilots are in a key role in this; they have a concrete impact on fuel burn and CO2 emissions during flights. Our flight planning and our ground operations also contribute to fuel efficiency in their everyday work.
  • We are participating in research to help accelerate the development of new technological solutions, such as sustainable aviation fuels and hydrogen flying.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

As pressure to decarbonize aviation grows, sustainable aviation fuel has emerged as a key technology driver for reducing emissions, especially for long-haul flying. Compared to other new technologies (e.g. hydrogen flying and electrification), SAF is more mature for the current infrastructure and has a significant impact on cutting fossil-based CO2 emissions as much as 80%.

There are multiple roadmaps published outlining similar results needed to achieve carbon-neutral flying (IATA Waypoint 2050, A4E destination 2050, WEF SAF as a Pathway to net-zero Aviation, and oneworld Path to net-zero Emissions). We need to pull many levers, but the most important one requiring our focus in 2020’s is sustainable aviation fuel.

In 2023, SAF accounted for only 0.24% of our fuel usage. In the coming years, the share of SAF will increase both through regulation and through our voluntary actions. For example, starting from 2025 intra-EU traffic will include a 2% SAF mandate which will rise to 6% in 2030. In addition to mandated SAF volumes, we will need to increase the voluntary SAF volumes. To achieve this, we need not only the support of our customers, but also the global ramp up of SAF production, as currently the price and availability of SAF hinders its large-scale use.

Key Benefits of Sustainable Aviation Fuel:

  • Sustainable aviation fuel can be blended with conventional jet fuel, and it can be safely used in existing aircraft without modifications to engines or infrastructure.
  • Sustainable aviation fuel is estimated to be the key technology driver for reducing flying emissions, especially for long-haul flying.
  • Sustainable aviation fuel can reduce fossil CO2 emissions up to 80% compared to fossil-based fuels.

Circular Economy

On our flights, the food and materials we consume have also an impact on our environmental footprint. At Finnair, we have set a company-wide target for Circular Economy: 100% Material Management. Our Circular Economy implementation objective focuses on the materials of industrial sectors that use the most resources and where the potential for circularity is high. These sectors include plastics, packaging, food & beverages, textiles & fibres, electronics & ICT, batteries & vehicles, and construction & buildings.

Although some parts of our waste management flows are not allowed for material recycling or biogas production due to regulation, we ensure that all waste from inflight ending at our Helsinki hub is re-used either as energy, heat, biogas, manure, or material, with zero waste ending up in landfills.

Our key actions for more sustainable material management are:

  • We include the circular economy design principles in all operations.
  • We focus on reducing waste and strive turning waste streams into material streams for use in other industries.
    • plastics:
      • substituting single-use plastics, recycling, paying attention also on microplastics, and biobased and biodegradable plastics.
    • food:
      • improving order-delivery -based service,
      • striving to reduce food waste onboard by offering more pre-order choices, 
      • donating excess meals to charity.
    • packaging:
      • reducing packaging materials and single-used packaging products,
      • donating excess amenity kits to charity.
    • textiles & fibres: improving textile reuse and recycling.
    • electronics and ICT: improving the sorting of electronic waste.
    • batteries and vehicles: enhancing the circular potential of batteries.
    • construction and buildings: promoting circularity principles in facility management.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the foundation of human well-being and an essential component of our planet’s beauty. Protecting the land and oceans requires sustainable consumption and production practices, as well as preserving nature. Unfortunately, criminals take advantage of air transport to smuggle illegal flora and fauna, with the illegal wildlife trade estimated to be worth at least $19 billion annually. As a signatory to the Buckingham Palace Declaration (United For Wildlife’s Transport Task Force), Finnair is committed to raising awareness of this issue. Finnair is an IATA IWT Registered airline.

We’re also committed to using only sustainable aviation fuel produced according to the sustainability criteria set by EU RED II and/or CORSIA. This helps us to ensure that the significant increase in SAF production over the next few decades is done sustainably, with consideration for both climate and biodiversity, as well as Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC). ILUC aims to prevent arable land used for food production from being used to produce raw materials for biofuel, which would result in either the clearing of forests or wetlands or a decline in food production.

Our key actions in biodiversity conservation are:

  • Raise the public and personnel awareness of the Illegal Wildlife Trade.
  • Provide proper training for employees possibly encountering illegal wildlife trade.
  • ​​​​​​​Finnair has placed an embargo concerning hunting trophies, including their skin/hide and all articles made from or containing parts of such animals.
  • Finnair doesn’t tolerate suppliers, customers and personnel involved in these crimes and we encourage all our partners and personnel follow the same principle.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​