A Memorandum of Understanding has been made between Virgin Australia and Boeing, with collaboration across five areas in a joint effort to deliver on sustainability ambitions. The agreement between Virgin Australia and Boeing reflects both companies' focus, including the engagement and well-being of their people and inclusive business practices.
It has also been recognised that the Memorandum of Understanding can leverage Australian operational footprints to amplify and accelerate sustainability-related outcomes. Virgin Australia's chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer, Christian Bennett, said that the Memorandum of Understanding reflects the ambition between the two companies.
“This is the first sustainability-focused MoU between our companies, and we are delighted to partner with Boeing. This MoU, which combines our deep expertise in Australia’s commercial aviation industry with Boeing’s global knowledge and insights, will help to drive and amplify change," said Bennet.
This agreement is only one step of Virgin Australia’s commitment to build a sustainable business that will be able to adapt to changing technology in the future of aviation.
“We know this will not happen overnight, but we are committed to accelerating our effort in a responsible and credible fashion. High-quality partnerships like this MoU with Boeing will be an important enabler of that acceleration.”
Sustainable fuels will be advocated for, which will also support domestic policy and supply chain investment to accelerate SAF production. Within the partnership, there is also an agreement to advance robust Australian carbon offsets, which will support regional development. There is also a plan to raise public awareness about high-quality decarbonisation opportunities via market-based measures.
Boeing and Virgin will also work to identify areas of potential acceleration of First Nations engagement and inclusion, with a particular focus on procurement opportunities for suppliers. Opportunities will also be identified to accelerate workforce inclusion efforts in areas such as gender and disability accessibility.
Boeing vice president of environmental sustainability, Sheila Remes, said that it was an honour to partner with Virgin Australia, mainly to tackle the challenges the industry is facing in regard to mitigating the climate impact of the aviation and tourism industries, catalysing the SAF industry, and human development.
“Together, Boeing and Virgin Australia can advance meaningful solutions for the Asia Pacific region and the aerospace industry,” said Remes.
Off the back of a successful role in the Australian and American economic relationships, Boeing and Virgin Australia will also work in close cooperation to support the ambitions of the 2023 Australia / United States Climate, Critical Minerals, and Clean Energy Transformation Compact.
