‘This is real progress’: airlines on sustainable aviation fuels and the chances of net zero flying

The EU and UK have imposed mandates, and investors see its value - but the industry has mixed views

One hundred years ago, the Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo was attempting the unprecedented feat of crossing the Indian subcontinent in a flying boat. He later splashed down on the Tiber in Rome to national acclaim, having flown via Asia to Australia and back over seven months, taking off and landing in water 80 times.

Aviation has been marked by stop-start journeys on hitherto uncharted courses to unlikely, if not unreachable, destinations. Today's collective act of faith - amid much scepticism - is in following an uncertain path to sustainability, through green fuels that are yet to be widely produced.