Embraer business jet customers who enroll in its OEM’s Embraer Executive Care maintenance program will receive 25 hours of complimentary carbon-neutral flight hours via 4Air under a partnership between the companies announced on Friday. “Our partnership with 4Air will incentivize business jet customers to make their own long-term commitment to sustainability and demonstrate ways they can start acting now, even as alternatives like SAF are not yet abundant and new technologies are still in development,” said Johann Bordais, president and CEO of Embraer Services and Support.
During 2021, its first year of operation, 4Air (Booth F48) enabled aircraft owners, operators, and passengers to voluntarily offset more than one million tonnes of carbon dioxide via carbon offsets and/or use of SAF—achieving 125 million carbon-neutral flight miles over the course of 250,000 flights. The company can connect users with available SAF with its live mapping tool that currently shows 20 verified locations where it can be obtained. That is expected to grow to at least 24 FBOs in the continental U.S. by year’s end, according to 4Air president Kennedy Ricci.
Separately, 4Air has also begun providing aviation facilities with carbon ratings. It recently gave Clay Lacy Aviation in Van Nuys, California, a “facilities neutral” rating due to its use of solar energy, LED lighting, and carbon offset credits.
4Air aircraft customers pay rates either based on reported flight hours or fuel consumption. “Level 1” clients can pay the equivalent of approximately $20 to $60 per flight hour for airplanes ranging in size from a business turboprop to a large cabin bizjet. Level 1 is a straight 100 percent carbon offset, which 4Air purchases from vetted providers.
New Embraer business jet customers will receive their complimentary 25 hours from 4Air at Level 1 (Bronze). But customers can do more by participating in higher-level programs that can be a 300 percent carbon offset, add SAF credits to show a net reduction of carbon emissions below neutral, or help fund investments in green aviation energy such as hydrogen and electric-powered aircraft. The latter are considered “Level 4” programs than can add between $100 to $500 per flight hour.
Currently, carbon offset credits are not tax-deductible in the U.S. They are verified under carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (Corsia) standards. Purchasing carbon offsets can be used in combination with either direct purchases of SAF or indirect purchases via book-and-claim schemes.
“What we see is a lot of corporate clients setting a certain [CO2 reduction] goal with their usage of SAF and then offsetting the remainder [of emissions] to reduce as much as you can,” Ricci said, adding that the company does a deep dive into the organizations from which it buys carbon credits or directs green energy project sponsorship.
The global carbon credit market is expected to grow to $2.4 billion by 2027, according to consultancy Coherent Market Insights. Ricci said the programs from which it buys credits are thoroughly vetted. “We're very strict about the ones we work with,” he stressed.