In this episode of our ‘Sustainability in the Air’ podcast, Eveliina Huurre, Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Finnair, speaks with SimpliFlying’s CEO Shashank Nigam about the airline’s comprehensive approach to sustainability as it celebrated its centenary last year.
Huurre shares insights into Finnair’s innovative employee engagement strategy that generated 100 sustainability initiatives, their science-based targets for emissions reduction, and the challenges of implementing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). She emphasises the importance of industry-wide collaboration to achieve meaningful climate progress.
Here are the key highlights of the conversation:
Finnair's 100 sustainability initiatives from employee engagement (2:46)
Science-based targets for emissions reduction (7:38)
Sustainable aviation fuel strategy and challenges (14:34)
Operational efficiencies to reduce emissions (19:01)
Customer engagement through SAF contribution programme (23:27)
Industry-wide collaboration for sustainable aviation (29:52)
Future technologies: electric and hydrogen aircraft (33:00)
Rapid fire! (36:58)
Keep reading for a detailed overview of the episode.
Why employee engagement matters for aviation's sustainability journey
As airlines grapple with the enormous challenge of decarbonisation, tapping into the collective knowledge and creativity of their workforce can unlock innovative solutions that might otherwise remain undiscovered.
Finnair’s approach to its centenary celebrations highlights the effectiveness of its strategy. To mark its 100th anniversary, the airline invited employees to help shape its sustainability journey. The response was remarkable, with employees suggesting over 250 sustainability ideas. Of these, around 100 initiatives — both large and small — were selected, aligning with Finnair’s environmental and social sustainability goals.
“The most powerful aspect of the 100 sustainability initiatives project was engaging our employees,” says Huurre. “We received almost 300 ideas from Finnair staff and selected about 100 of them. These ideas ranged from small, low-cost initiatives to larger, more significant ones.”
This engagement proved particularly valuable in the aftermath of the pandemic, says Huurre. One of the most successful initiatives focused on social sustainability through an employee recognition program called ‘Praise the Colleague’.
“Each month, we gave breakfast vouchers to employees who were praised, allowing them to enjoy a meal with a colleague at a nearby hotel. After COVID, it played a key role in uplifting the culture, and people started giving each other more positive feedback.”
By implementing all 100 selected initiatives, Finnair has shown that sustainability is not only about high-level strategy but also about fostering a culture where employees are encouraged to contribute.
4 takeaways from the conversation
1. Science-based targets
Setting ambitious yet achievable climate targets is a delicate balancing act for airlines. Finnair has taken a notably candid approach, adjusting its goals in response to significant operational challenges.
“We wanted to do our part in addressing the climate impact of flying,” explains Huurre. “We believe the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is currently the leading global practice for setting credible climate targets across industries.”
Finnair’s SBTI target requires reducing carbon emissions intensity by 34.5% by 2033, using 2023 as the baseline year. This translates to an approximate 13% net reduction in absolute CO2 emissions over the period.
What’s notable is the airline’s decision to reassess earlier climate goals in response to changing global circumstances. “Our previous long-term target, which was set in 2019, was actually set two weeks before COVID hit,” Huurre shares. “After that, the war in Ukraine led to the closure of Russian airspace, causing us to lose access to the emission-efficient short route between Europe and Asia.”
These combined challenges forced a reevaluation of their original 2045 net-zero target. “We honestly came to the conclusion that we cannot be an industry leader and be net-zero in 2045, as we said in 2019,” Huurre admits. Instead, Finnair now aims to “collectively with the industry, achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”
2. Sustainable aviation fuel strategy
SAF represents the primary lever in Finnair's emissions reduction strategy, yet implementing it at scale involves navigating significant challenges around availability, cost, and regulatory frameworks.
“SAF accounted for about 0.4% of the jet fuel we used in 2023. In 2024, we expect it to rise to 1.8%.”
The cost premium of SAF — anywhere from 2-5x the price of conventional jet fuel — creates a significant financial barrier. Despite this, Finnair aims to promote SAF usage, says Huurre. “In 2025, we aim to double our voluntary SAF purchases compared to 2024.”
Finnair has also implemented a passenger contribution scheme allowing customers to support SAF usage when booking flights. The contribution ranges from €3 to €15 per passenger depending on travel class and flight length. Huurre illustrates the potential collective impact of such schemes:
“If just 1% of customers contributed an average of €5, we could purchase 480,000 litres of SAF. With that, we could fly A350s from Helsinki to London 25 times.”
3. Operational efficiencies and fleet modernisation
Beyond SAF, Finnair employs a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions through operational efficiencies and fleet modernisation — approaches that can deliver meaningful climate benefits whilst also improving business performance:
“We’re constantly working on using fuel as efficiently as possible,” explains Huurre. This includes daily optimisation of aircraft allocation to different routes based on demand and fuel consumption patterns. Flight operations themselves are carefully managed: “Our pilots are trained to fly very fuel efficiently, and they have different tools in place for optimising the flight levels and speeds to save fuel.”
Weight reduction represents another focus area with direct emissions impact. “The weight of the aircraft has a direct impact on fuel burn and emissions,” Huurre explains. “Weight is an important consideration for various items on board, such as carpets, seats, and trolleys.”
Fleet modernisation forms the third pillar of this strategy. “We operate one of the most modern widebody fleets in Europe,” Huurre states. “Two-thirds of our widebody aircraft are state-of-the-art Airbus A350s, which are 25% more fuel efficient than other current generation aircraft.”
4. The necessity of industry-wide collaboration
The complexity and global scale of aviation’s climate impact require industry-wide collaboration to drive change.
“Achieving energy transition in aviation requires the participation of all stakeholders, including the public sector,” Huurre emphasises. This collaborative approach extends from global industry bodies to national initiatives and partnerships.
At the global level, Finnair works closely with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on industry standards, and collaborates with its oneworld alliance partners on joint SAF purchases. Within Europe, Finnair engages with Airlines for Europe (A4E) on EU policymaking and regulatory frameworks. Nationally, the airline works with the Finnish government on climate and energy strategies, including advocating for incentives to promote SAF uptake in Finland. Finnair also participates in national initiatives like Finland’s hydrogen cluster to advance synthetic aviation fuel development.
Underpinning this collaborative approach is Huurre’s conviction that climate progress should be a collective rather than competitive endeavour:
“If I want people to remember one thing, it’s that this is not about who gets there first, but how we do this together.”
This perspective acknowledges both the scale of the challenge and the shared nature of the solution. No single airline can transform the industry alone. Transitioning to sustainable future will require coordinated action across the entire aviation ecosystem, from airlines and manufacturers to fuel suppliers, airports, and policymakers.
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