Victor is partnering with Finnish SAF producer Neste. To date, the company said it has had 427 SAF bookings, with average spend per booking at AED4,500, helping it achieve total CO2 reduction of 653 tonnes.

Sharing its learnings, the company said that: “One in five private aircraft charterers are willing to pay an additional AED4,500 for SAF per booking, providing an average carbon emission reduction of 1.5 tonnes. The average amount of Jet-A fossil fuel Victor customers choose to replace with SAF is 30% per booking. Victor’s aim in 2024 is for at least one in five MENA customers to buy SAF for their jet charter bookings”.

The company said it is working on two-pronged approach of increasing voluntary SAF demand and encourage adoption of its SAF blueprint by other business and commercial aviation companies across MENA.

“Our results in partnership with Neste evidence many flyers acknowledge they are living beyond their environmental means and will therefore voluntarily pay more for their carbon consumption when they fly.  We strongly advocate for the wider aviation industry to accelerate SAF demand by enabling all flyers to voluntarily buy SAF,” said Toby Edwards, co-CEO, Victor.

Victor recently relocated its headquarters to Abu Dhabi from the UK.

Victor and Neste signed a partnership agreement in June 2022 for SAF purchases.

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Founded in 2011 in the UK, Victor’s move to Abu Dhabi will provide the Emirate with its first on-demand jet charter platform. Aligned with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 strategic target, Victor will contribute to the nation’s sustainability objectives through its climate action initiatives, such as a partnership with SAF producer Neste.

James Farley, co-CEO of Victor said: “Abu Dhabi’s strategic location, world-class infrastructure and supportive business environment make it the ideal base for expanding our operations and serving our customer base across MENA. The business aviation market is growing faster in the region than the rest of the world1 and Victor can uniquely service this market by offering more choice, transparency and best-in-class customer service.”

The move to Abu Dhabi means Victor will benefit from state-of-the-art aviation facilities, a robust regulatory framework and access to key markets, especially Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Demand from these countries has seen a 104% increase over the past 18 months.

Ali Ahmed Alnaqbi, founding and executive chairman of the Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) said: “We are pleased to welcome Victor to Abu Dhabi and support its growth and expansion plans. The strategic acquisition of Victor by Abu Dhabi and its HQ move reflects the UAE’s commitment to fostering innovation and excellence in the aviation sector and reinforces Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading destination for business aviation.”

Victor said it has “hand-picked” a team of professionals with respected reputations across Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s business aviation sector. It is led by Simon D’Oyly, who has over 20 years’ experience in the region and supported by Richard Brooks, as director of operations. With Omar Abouomar joining as vice president sales and Ghada Fawzi as vice president national accounts.

The company continues to retain its European and US offices and teams in London and Washington DC.

Toby Edwards, co-CEO said: “The UAE has for the first time extended the theme of the year, with the Year of Sustainability continuing into 2024. This showcases further commitment to a climate-conscious vision by the government. Given our climate action initiatives to date, it feels natural to move our headquarters to Abu Dhabi.”

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“The senior management team have been on call throughout the summer. But it is for a good cause, we obviously wanted this to happen and thrilled that it’s now over the line,” says Edwards. “I had not done M&A before, so it’s been a learning process.”

The Abu-Dhabi company has bought out investors who were mainly Victor customers as well as management. They came in 2020 when Victor’s owner, Alyssum Holdings, filed for administration.

“Our existing investors have done a fantastic job in allowing us to lay the foundations and building blocks for our next stage of growth,” says Edwards. “In order to fulfil our objective of becoming the number one on-demand charter aviation company it is great to have a single aviation-centric investor.”

How does he define becoming number one? “It is not just about the volume of flights – service and a global footprint is very important to us,” says Edwards. “We are very established in Europe and have a good presence in North America, but we will be focused on other markets including the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Countries] region.”

Victor will keep its London’s headquarters but is likely to open an office in Abu Dhabi

As well as helping the company grow, Edwards says that the investor is committed to Victor’s sustainable aviation goals. In 2018 it became the first business jet charter company to introduce compulsory carbon off-setting. It stopped this at the end of 2022 when it introduced an innovative Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) scheme with Neste. Since then, one fifth of all customers have chosen to purchase SAF for their bookings.

“In addition to the growth of flights and bookings, sustainability is really important to us and we want to continue to lead in that front by having more customers purchase sustainable aviation fuel through our programme,” says Edwards. “We want to continue to raise awareness of SAF,, help educate the wider aviation sector, not necessarily just business aviation, and show that there is appetite for consumers to credibly reduce their emissions from their flights by purchasing sustainable aviation fuel.”

Victor started the sales process over 12 months ago. They were advised by Omar Dean, founder, Odino Advisory. Edwards says there was strong interest from a range of buyers including other charter brokers and operators.

Clive Jackson, Victor’s founder and chair, is stepping down. “I plan to work with both EU and UK GOV to develop a game changing global standard and reporting framework for aviation emissions,” said Jackson in an email to customers. “This follows the strategy framework I set out in my COP26 white paper, published by an All-Party Commons Select Committee, detailing a transparent pathway to NETZERO for private and commercial aviation.”

Edwards says he is excited about the future: “I have been at Victor for 11 years now and we have had some great people here during that time – including several who are now running operators that we work with today. I believe our team is better and more aligned than it has ever been. We are only just getting started in terms of executing our vision and our ambitions to be the number one charter company and continue with our mission – a better way to fly.”

 He says they are keen to celebrate the sale with a dinner for the investors who have backed the business for the last three years and the management team is also working on another three year growth plan.  Edwards is also hoping to have a well-deserved holiday to catch up on sleep.

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During the question-and-answer session, Khan was interrupted by two (uninvited) climate change protesters who burst into the conference shouting: “Aviation is ruining our future.” It was a sharp reminder for our record audience (of around 600 delegates) about the importance of addressing sustainability topics and green concerns, while focusing on keeping their businesses in the black.

Recovering swiftly from the surprise interruption, the EBAA secretary general went on to say business aviation should be proud of what it has achieved already but could do more to promote its contribution to the global economy, to individuals’ lifestyle and to humanitarian causes, such as medical flights. “Business aviation is the Formula One of the skies,” said Khan. “It is the test bed for aviation innovation [particularly sustainability]” that points the way for commercial aviation.

While the sector faced “unjustified demonisation”, if it “can show more of itself”, it could persuade more people of its merits. “By drawing from our many strengths, we can shape the narrative [about business aviation] to our perspective,” he said.

Many speakers noted how aviation needs to improve its environmental record. “The business aviation industry has been slow to pick up on sustainability,” conceded Chadi Saade, vice president Commercial, Airbus Corporate Jets. “But in the past six months to a year, things had changed fast. Sustainability is not an option. We have never experienced a time when we need to change as fast as now. It’s all about safety – the safety of our planet.”

In the medium to long term, innovative research and new technologies, like electric and hydrogen propulsion, offered scope to cut or eliminate business aviation’s carbon footprint ahead of the zero emissions target of 2050. But for now, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) offered the best practical means to cut emissions (alongside carbon offsetting schemes) and to be seen to do by global opinion, according to speakers.

Nancy Bsales, chief operating officer with the sustainability consultancy 4Air returned to business aviation’s pioneering role. “What you have to remember is that we are the people who are laying the foundation for the rest of aviation,” she said.

But high prices and low availability meant sustainable fuel faced a big challenge. Toby Edwards, CEO, Victor told delegates: “Last year, we [SAF] only accounted for 0.1% of aviation fuel. So, getting that to 10% by 2030 is going to be a huge challenge,” he said. But he reported rising demand, as clients realised the sustainability and reputational benefits of using the fuel. “What we are seeing that is super exciting, is that one in five customers are requesting and using SAF when they book with us.”

Karl Mills, chief commercial officer, Europe, TAG Aviation saw SAF delivering business as well as sustainability benefits. “Sustainability is a very powerful sales tool, which has been overlooked,” he said. “In the future aircraft owners may choose a management company based on their sustainability record, especially corporate clients.”

Corporate interest in SAF was confirmed by Elouisa Dalli, senior vice president, Marketing and Communications, Jet Aviation. ”You are seeing corporate flight departments use SAF to meet their ESG targets, some even going as far as using 100% using the book-and-claim system.”

New legislation is becoming a big incentive to invest in SAF now, said Jonathan Wood, vice president, Renewable Aviation, Neste. “Policy is going to be incredibly important in SAFs future. In the EU around 2% of all fuel used in aviation will need to be SAF by 2025.”

But it wasn’t just green topics that dominated discussion at this year’s London conference. Staying profitably in the black also framed much of the debate. Many speakers thought that while private jet aviation market may be cooling, significant gains had been made on pre-pandemic levels. Myles Walton, MD Wolfe Research acknowledged the business jet market may be slowing down but said it is still 15% to 20% ahead of 2019 levels.

The North American market may continue to grow but “in Europe, they are going to have a tough time continuing to grow”, he said. Overall OEMs were facing both supply side and certification restraints.

Growth was very much on the agenda of most companies, including Jetex. “Last year was a massive year for us,” said Adel Mardini, president and CEO, Jetex. The company handled more than 71,000 flights compared with 51,000 in 2021. Regions singled out for growth were Europe and Asia.

Answering the question are we seeing a more balanced market, Andy Priester, chairman and CEO Priester Aviation said: “We are still playing catch up. We got so far behind with the human capital infrastructure that we still have years of catch up, but at least it’s not as bad because there aren’t as many new entrants.”

Stephen Friedrich, chief commercial officer, Embraer Executive Jets said the North American market had coped with soaring demand. “The US has been able to absorb it [rapidly rising demand] because we have the infrastructure.”

Fabian Bello, CEO Journey Aviation said: “I had a handful of clients who bought at the right time and their aircraft appreciated. In the last three months with pilot issues increasing and pilots quitting, [new clients] are saying they’re going to sell their airplane, pocket the money and be done. I do think there’s going to be a shake-off where these new assets go right back into the market.”

While pre-owned jets inventories are now climbing for some categories, Zipporah Marmor, vice president, Aircraft Transactions, ACASS highlighted soaring business last year. “The surprise of 2022 was what a great year it was, after a record 2021. At the end of 2021, I thought we would never see a year like that and we saw an even better one [in 2022].”

Chris Miller, managing partner, Shearwater Global Capital predicted: “In six months’ time, we will look back and see this as the start of more normal depreciation.”

Turning to cybersecurity, Katie Bancroft, associate, Jaffa & Co said aviation was becoming more aware of the risks. “People are taking steps to protect their sensitive personal data. But it is not a one-and-done thing. You need continuous improvements to ensure your information remains cybersecure.” 

Andrew Douglas, founder, Make Tech Fly put the scale of the challenge into perspective. “If you knew some of the cyber threats out there, you would probably go back to pen and paper.”

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Chiesa joined the company in 2017 and was promoted from his role within the Sourcing team to director of Operations UK.

The European-based firm said the promotion marks the consolidation of the US team under “new, inspirational leadership”. Chiesa will be responsible for driving Victor North America’s expansion and will carry out his first responsibility in representing the charter company at the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers conference in Nashville at the end of the month.

James Farley, co-CEO, Victor said the promotion will strengthen the US team and its network. He added: “Victor North America is in a strong position to continue its upward growth trajectory and, with a renewed focus on strengthening the supply-side infrastructure, I am confident that Devin will succeed in this role.”

In December, Victor put a stop to its carbon offsetting scheme to focus on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), having brought in offsetting in 2018, and introducing 200% off-setting on all bookings in 2019.

Devin Chiesa – at a glance

• 2023 – present: EVP, Victor
• 2020 – 2022: Director of Operations UK, Victor
• 2018 – 2022: Head of Commercial and Operations UK, Victor
• 2016 – 2017: Charter Sales and Marketing manager, Quantum Aviation
• 2015 – 2016: Charter account manager, Vertis Aviation
• 2014 – 2015: Charter account manager, Owen Air
• 2011 – 2014: Flight operations supervisor/dispatcher, Medair Charter

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You pass several refineries, power stations and other industrial complexes before you get to Neste. But it is worth it. There is no way that business aviation can meet future carbon targets without Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). You also get to wear cool protective gear and carry an emergency gas mask as part of the tour.

Neste is the world’s largest producer of SAF. It doesn’t use any crops to do this. It just takes used cooking oil (including from McDonald’s in the Netherlands) and left-over fats from abattoirs (the bits that have not made it into sausages). It turns these into Jet A. A sign in its head office says: “Why waste, perfectly good waste.” SAF reduces greenhouse gas emissions by about 80% compared with traditional crude oil.

First, the technical part. Making SAF from waste involves thousands of miles of pipes of all different sizes, huge towers, hydrogen, catalysts and a cool control room. It also takes serious investment.

Neste makes all its SAF in Finland now. Next year it will open refineries in Rotterdam (we saw the construction of this) and Singapore. “SAF is not just on paper, it is happening. It is real,” says Jonathan Wood, vice president Europe, Renewable Aviation at Neste.

Victor is working on demand. In June it announced an agreement where customers could buy SAF from Neste for their booking. Since June, one fifth of customers have chosen to use SAF.

“A lot of people say that there is not the demand, but there is,” says Toby Edwards, co-CEO, Victor. “We have shown this and would love to help others in the industry. We have proved that customers will choose SAF.”

Customers get to choose what proportion of their booking is covered by SAF and on average have chosen about a third of their fuel burn. Rather than physically fill the exact same aircraft, Neste delivers the fuel to a partner airline which uses it. Victor’s customers get an audited SAF delivery certificate. It calls this: “Pay here, use there.”

Neste will produce 100,000t of SAF in 2022. In 2023 – when production starts in Rotterdam and Singapore – production capacity will rise to 1.5m tons. By 2026, Neste capacity will be 2.2m tons. The EU and UK are targeting to mandate that 2% of all aviation fuel in Europe should be from SAF by 2025 and 5% in 2030. Neste can do this on its own.

“There is a lot of focus on mandates, but voluntary demand can get the industry to net zero much faster, now,” says Wood. “Everyone has seen recent protests at airports, being sustainable is becoming a licence to operate.”

By 2025 there will be a lot more supply. World Energy, the leading US producer, is investing $4bn to increase its SAF production to over 500m gallons by 2025 and 1bn gallons by 2030. Shell is also building a SAF facility in Rotterdam that should open in 2024.

A quarter of Neste’s staff work in research and development and they are always looking at new feedstocks like municipal waste. In the next 10 years the Rotterdam facility will probably be using 10 different feedstocks. In the US Alder Fuels is working on forest waste. The ultimate goal is converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into fuel. Kiverdi, a fascinating start-up, says it can get bacteria to do this.

“The key thing is that fossil fuels stay underground,” says Edwards.

Cooking oil and fats are key for now. So, when someone says: “Would you like fries with that?” For the love of business aviation, say yes.

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Although not every flight will be fuelled by SAF, for every flight where it is purchased Neste has pledged to deliver specific SAF volumes to partner aircraft operators. This means the benefits will stay in-sector.

Neste and Victor have collaborated before. In 2019, Neste partnered with Victor in its Sustainable Future for Aviation Strategy handbook. This latest partnership has been in discussion since April, 2022.

“At Victor we believe in a better way to fly,” Victor CEO, Toby Edwards told CJI. “We cannot ignore the fact that a private jet emits at least 10-15 times more CO2 per passenger mile than a commercial airliner.

“Until now, as SAF has only been available at a few airports or via purchasing SAF credits. There hasn’t been a credible SAF solution for the on-demand jet charter business sector that is aligned with science-based targets and the ability to reach Net Zero by 2050,” he said.

The partnership allows SAF demand to scale because it is not limiting purchase to specific airports. “After launching we will monitor how the partnership goes. Of course, should it be a success we will share and encourage the blueprint with other business aviation companies to help them offer SAF at scale,” said Edwards.

Neste MY SAF will be available at check-out on every booking. It is what Edwards calls a “pay here, use there” solution. He also stresses the need to be transparent about where the SAF purchased has been used. SAF purchased will be used in-sector by Neste partners like commercial airlines.

There are a range of established SAF producers, why Neste? Edwards explained: “The company has a rich heritage of manufacturing renewable fuels – it was as early as 2000 when its scientists first started working on renewable fuel solutions. Neste SAF is already in production and available to use today – unlike SAF that has not yet been produced, or SAF credits. There is no palm oil in Neste’s SAF. All the raw materials which make it are waste products that would otherwise end up in landfill.”

SAF will need to do the heavy lifting if aviation is to reach its net zero goals, said Edwards. According to the International Air Transport Association, 65% of carbon emissions will be abated through SAF.

Private flights now account for a quarter of all air traffic in the US – about twice the level pre-pandemic, according to WINGX. “Couple this with recent UN science reports highlighting the planet is on track for a disastrous 3.2x [times] of warming by the end of this century, and you see why we’re making partnerships like this,” said Edwards.

The near-term industry target is 10% SAF by 2030. Currently the industry is using 0.1% SAF so there needs to be a 100-fold increase in SAF to hit this over the next eight years.

“Political action will not be enough – 5% SAF from 2030 in the EU – far more voluntary action is needed if we want to reach net zero as an industry,” said Edwards.

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The AirGO-Victor initiative applies to all AirGO flights booked via Victor’s marketplace and will mean the cost of SAF is incorporated into the total price of the charter. The project uses AirGO’s SAF Book & Claim model, developed in partnership with CO2 offsetting firm, Compensaid and powered by Lufthansa. The project is due to go live in early 2022.

Daniela Flierl, managing director at AirGO, said: “The most common carbon offsetting schemes available today promote afforestation and renewable energy programmes which ‘cancel out’ or minimise the damage caused by carbon emissions. The issue with these approaches is that they have a delayed impact – and we all know that’s not enough.”

Flierl added: “By comparison, the use of SAF results in an immediate reduction in carbon emissions. While of course the industry has a long way to go, this project is a first step towards normalising the need to make sustainable choices when travelling.”

Toby Edwards, co-CEO at Victor, has worked with AirGO for nearly a decade: “Just like Victor, AirGO is passionate about transparency, particularly around disclosing the carbon emissions of each flight. This joint initiative will allow Victor clients to easily compare the fuel-efficient Piaggio Avanti with SAF included in the charter price, side-by-side with other more carbon intensive options, which we hope will drive better decision-making.”

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The plan tries eto encompass all aspects of business aviation including: consumer awareness of carbon footprints; investment in reduction innovations and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF); investing in high-quality carbon offsetting; going beyond net zero for every transaction and third-party verification and disclosure.

The plan aims to give g private aviation businesses a framework through which they can show their commitment to a more sustainable industry.

The Five Steps:

• Awareness: Investing in education and raising awareness with consumers, supply chain, and future generations of the impact of their carbon footprint and how they can reduce or mitigate it.

• Mitigation: Every flight must be beyond carbon neutral. This can be achieved by offsetting more than the total emissions of that flight, or by engaging a hybrid solution of offsetting and sustainable aviation fuel, where available.

• Nature-based solutions: Choose offsetting providers and projects which offer nature-based solutions and are Gold Standard or Voluntary Carbon Standard accredited.

• Third party verification:  Publish the carbon emissions of the company operations and flight performance, as well as the mitigation strategy. The emissions and associated carbon credit retirement should be audited by a third-party as the company itself cannot objectively mark its own efforts.
• Innovation and reduction: Invest time and research into exploring new technologies which will deliver a proven reduction on your impact on global warming. Smart technology might include SAF viability, optimising flight routes or research into contrails to reduce the quantum of emissions.

“Chartering a private aircraft provides your family and friends with a safe way to get to anywhere in the world, at a time of your choosing, with minimum risk.” said Clive Jackson, founder and chairman, Victor.

“Your ability to choose how you travel does, however, come with the added responsibility to protect our society and the future of our planet. We cannot overlook the fact that a private jet emits up to 20 times more CO2 per passenger mile than a commercial airliner. Operators, brokers, and customers must accept that the privilege they enjoy comes with certain obligations”.

Jackson is adamant that every private jet flight must be carbon negative by a significant proportion. He believes every passenger should remove more carbon than they emit, “and this commitment and claim must be verifiable and open to scrutiny by others”.

Jackson added: “Today we can offer a mix of sustainable synthetic fuel, smart tech and UN-approved carbon sequestration programmes as a range of verifiable mitigation options that go hand-in-hand with the freedom to choose how we wish to travel”.

As part of the plan, Victor has become the first private jet company to have its annual flight, emissions and carbon credit purchase data formally audited and published. The firm is also calling for this level of transparency to become a standard in aviation.

Victor’s audited 2020 environmental performance is published [here] [flyvictor.com /carbon-offset-report/2020]. Victor emitted more than 21,272t of carbon and offset more than 45,000t of carbon in 2020, protecting forest which cover an area four times the size of Manhattan, New York and 116 times the size Monaco.

Robert Baltus, chief operating officer (COO), EBAA said: “The EBAA supports Victor’s Build Back Better Framework and in particular welcomes their call for third  party verification and full transparency on environmental investments made by private aviation businesses.

“Since Victor took this programme worldwide in 2019 and started mandating a 200% carbon offset on every flight, we encourage others in business aviation to follow their lead. At EBAA, we are working hard to develop a path to a more sustainable future for business aviation. The next hill for business aviation to climb is the utilisation of sustainable aviation fuel  on a greater scale. We look forward to working alongside Victor and other EBAA members to develop a SAF roadmap and engage the industry to adopt it.”

Paz Nachon,  head of Climate Action at Vertis Environmental Finance, said: “I was very impressed by how deeply climate action is rooted into Fly Victor’s business model. Fly Victor’s top management is leading the efforts and is closely involved in the emission reduction projects selection. Over the duration of our collaboration, Fly Victor supported nature-based projects with high environmental, social and ecosystem co-benefits. We are honoured to help Fly Victor in their dedicated climate action and look forward to working together in partnership as their exciting sustainability programme continues to develop.”

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The firm has already made two UK-based hires this month and is looking to further grow its international sales presence, mainly in Spain, Germany, and France, in anticipation of increasing demand in the second half of 2021 and beyond.

According to WINGX, business aviation is “only 2% off YOY in [the] first fortnight 2021 [versus] 50% declines in global airline fleets.” In December 2020, WINGX also predicted mergers and acquisitions and scaling in business aviation, whilst the outlook for the airline industry was not as optimistic. Flight Radar recorded commercial flights were down 41.7% in 2020 from 2019.

Victor is welcoming applications from all applicants – whether they are fresh to the industry or a veteran. The company is working with consultant and chief operating officer, AirlinePros International, Linzi Barber who will lead the search for new broker talent.

Victor said: “Victor is seeking global sales agents to passionately advocate this mission and provide exceptional customer service to its growing community of members. Successful applicants will effectively communicate the company’s market differentiators to drive bookings.”

Co-CEO Toby Edwards said: “After the most difficult year in aviation, the resilience of the Victor team is evidenced by our healthy 2020 performance and spurs us on to achieve our business goals for this year which includes increasing our global footprint of sales agents to profitably expand our team. The Victor leadership, including myself and co-CEO James Farley, have worked our way up through the ranks of the business meaning we understand the support needed for success and are passionate about leading a diverse team of fulfilled employees with clear career progression.”

Barber added: “I am delighted to be supporting Victor’s efforts in bringing new talent onboard. The spirit, passion and work ethic of the Victor team is incredibly motivating and I am excited to be able to offer new opportunities to join this dynamic and growing team.”

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