The morning light filters through the plate-glass windows of British Airways’ Waterside headquarters at Heathrow, casting long reflections across the quiet atrium. Outside, jets lift steadily into the sky, each one a reminder of the tension at the heart of modern aviation: an industry built to connect the world, yet under immense pressure to curb its carbon footprint.
It is here that I met Carrie Harris, British Airways’ Director of Sustainability, the woman charged with one of the most daunting tasks in global travel: steering a legacy carrier towards net zero by 2050.
Calm, articulate and pragmatic, Harris speaks less like a corporate executive delivering bullet points and more like a realist laying out hard truths. “We know flying has a significant impact on the planet,” she tells me, “and achieving net zero requires bold, innovative action today, as well as long-term transformation.”
As we talk, it becomes clear that this is not just another glossy sustainability pledge but a deliberate attempt to thread the needle between ambition and reality. From the rollout of sustainable aviation fuel to bold investments in carbon removals, Harris insists the airline’s decarbonisation journey is both urgent and grounded in measurable steps. “There is no pathway to net zero for aviation without carbon removals,” she says firmly.
Charting a course to net zero
British Airways’ plan—launched under the banner Flightpath Net Zero—sets out how to reduce emissions by 2050 or sooner. A third of the cuts will come from efficiencies and newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft. Another third is expected from the scaling up of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The remainder will depend on carbon removals and offsets.
These targets are already shaping operations. In 2023, BA reduced its carbon intensity to 86.2 grams of CO₂ per passenger kilometre—a 10 per cent improvement on 2019 levels. It also deployed more than 50,000 tonnes of SAF, compared with just under 10,000 tonnes the year before. That amounted to around one per cent of its fuel consumption, with an ambition to hit ten per cent by 2030.
In 2025, a landmark agreement with EcoCeres gave those ambitions a significant push. BA committed to buy SAF derived entirely from waste-based biomass, enough to cut up to 400,000 tonnes of CO₂—the equivalent of 240,000 return economy flights between London and New York. Crucially, these fuels can reduce lifecycle emissions by as much as 80 per cent compared with conventional jet fuel. “This is another important step forward,” Harris says. “But the real challenge is scale.”
Beyond fuels: the carbon removals frontier
Scaling SAF is not enough. Harris has been blunt on this point for years: “There is no pathway to net zero for aviation without carbon removals.” It’s a conviction that drove British Airways to become the UK’s largest purchaser of carbon removals in 2024, buying 33,000 tonnes of credits via the London-based platform CUR8.
The projects span a mosaic of approaches: enhanced rock weathering in Britain, reforestation in Scotland and Wales, turning whisky-industry waste into construction materials, and biochar schemes in India that also empower local women. BA has also partnered with Climeworks, the Swiss leader in Direct Air Capture, to secure permanent carbon removal capacity.
These ventures aren’t mere offsets, Harris insists, but part of a broader strategy to fund technologies that will be essential if aviation is to balance its books with the planet.
Greener on the ground
The transformation isn’t limited to the skies. At Heathrow, more than 90 per cent of BA’s ground vehicles are now electric, hybrid, or running on renewable hydrotreated vegetable oil, cutting over 6,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year. From tugs to steps to buses, the fleet is gradually shifting to zero emissions—quiet proof that small steps accumulate into meaningful gains.
Just as important, Harris has brought BA’s workforce into the mission. In little more than two years, the proportion of employees actively engaged in sustainability initiatives rose from 17 to 60 per cent. From internal workshops to awards recognising innovation, she has made sustainability part of the airline’s culture.
Turbulence ahead
None of this means the path is clear. SAF supply remains vanishingly small—less than half a per cent globally—while production costs are three to five times higher than kerosene. Regulators are pushing hard: the EU has mandated escalating SAF quotas, which some airlines warn could create cost and supply pressures. Even IAG, BA’s parent company, has urged a pragmatic balance between ambition and feasibility.
Yet Harris remains clear-eyed. BA’s long-term “take-or-pay” contracts are designed to lock in SAF supply at predictable rates, potentially insulating passengers from sharp fare rises. And as competitors jostle to catch up, she sees BA’s early adoption as a competitive edge.
Honesty and audacity
What makes Harris stand out is her willingness to confront aviation’s contradictions head-on. She does not pretend that the industry can decarbonise through fuel efficiency alone, nor that carbon removals are a panacea. Instead, she frames BA’s strategy as a blend of incremental gains and bold bets—grounded in transparency.
“We know flying has a significant impact,” she says again, almost like a refrain. “And we know that to continue connecting people and places, we must change. That change has to be bold, but also honest about what’s possible and where we are today.”
In an industry often accused of greenwashing, that candour feels refreshing. The challenge of decarbonising aviation by 2050 is immense. But in Carrie Harris, British Airways has a leader willing to balance ambition with realism—and to steer one of the world’s busiest airlines toward a future where connection and conscience can coexist.