A German airline has introduced a €19.50 fruit smoothie on its inflight menu in a bid to offset aircraft-related CO2 emissions and encourage sustainable flying.
Passengers flying with Eurowings can now purchase a ‘SAFt’ smoothie from the onboard Wings Bistro to contribute almost €20 towards the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – reducing 10 per cent of flight-related CO2 emissions.
The high-flying beverage is a play on words of saft, the German word for juice, and SAF, the abbreviation for sustainable aviation fuel.
SAF is produced from biogenic waste from renewable sources, such as used cooking oils, and has a carbon footprint that is around 80 per cent lower than that of fossil-based kerosene over its entire life cycle.
The airline says that purchasing this juice offsets the flight-related carbon emissions for one passenger on an average Eurowings route.
As for the remaining 90 per cent of emissions, smoothie profits will be invested in environmental projects with partners including myclimate, Climate Partner and SQUAKE.
The organic fruit smoothie from Kraftschluck – “The most delicious way of reducing CO2” – is made using German fruit from farms with short transport routes and is available to buy on Eurowings flights now.
According to the airline, with every smoothie purchased, a “spontaneous and uncomplicated contribution to more sustainable flying” is made.
Eurowings is the first airline to introduce the in-flight shopping option to fund the use of SAF, but already allows passengers to offset their journeys before they travel using the PlanetBlu platform.
With PlanetBlu, compensation packages, with the price dependent on the length of the flight route, can offset the CO2 emissions generated during travel.
The first transatlantic flight powered only by SAF took off on 28 November 2023 from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK.
Virgin Atlantic operated the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, branded as “Virgin100”, on the world’s busiest international air route.
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