What is Victor’s mission and history as a company?
Victor was founded in 2011 and our goal has always been to become the number one on-demand jet charter company globally. Our mission is A Better Way To Fly and everything that we do aims to ensure that private jet charter with Victor is better for our Members and better for the planet.
What sets us apart from our competitors is our transparency. Any time a Member makes a charter request, we provide detailed information, such as the name of the operator, the aircraft tail number, actual photos of the aircraft, and an all-inclusive price.
We have also led our sector with climate action initiatives since 2018, when we introduced an industry first carbon offset program to the on-demand private jet charter market. Following that milestone, in June 2022 we launched a pioneering partnership with Neste, the world’s leading producer of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), enabling Victor Members to voluntarily buy Neste’s SAF for any private jet booking worldwide, irrespective or aircraft or airport.
Neste MY SAF allows a carbon emission reduction of up to 80% over the lifecycle of the fuel. Since partnering with Neste, one in five of our customers have voluntarily paid an extra circa £1,000 on SAF when booking their private jet charter flight, replacing on average 30% of the fossil fuel with Neste’s SAF. Our ‘Pay Here, Use There’ blueprint is an industry-first, with the results encouraging others to offer SAF and evidence of our mission to make our sector more sustainable.
Why did you call it 'Pay Here, Use There'?
Aviation has tried and tested SAF for the past decade or so and all quality tests are completed in the same way as traditional jet fuel. SAF can currently be blended at up to 50% with traditional jet fuel and the blend is then re-certified as Jet A. Neste SAF is a drop-in fuel and can be handled in the same way as kerosene, so no changes are required in the fuelling infrastructure for an aircraft wanting to use SAF. That being said, because Business Aviation uses over 4,000 airports globally a year, and SAF is currently only delivered to about 18 of the largest international airports worldwide, rather than spend time - which we do not have during a climate emergency - waiting for SAF to become more widely available, we wanted to create a blueprint that would enable SAF demand to rapidly scale up today.
Transporting the SAF around the planet also negates the carbon reduction potential of SAF; a reason why the carbon emission of Neste SAF is only up to 80% reduction is because of the transportation footprint.
We believe our blueprint, coined ‘Pay Here, Use There’, is therefore the most pragmatic direct-to-consumer solution available to flyers. The process of how we offer Neste’s SAF to our Members - which we are also advocating is adopted by scheduled airlines - is as follows: a Member receives a selection of quotes including the aircraft that is the most fuel-efficient. Once they have decided which aircraft they want to book, using a slider at checkout they can choose how much fossil fuel they want to replace with Neste MY SAF™, from as little as 5% up to 100% – typically on average 30%. The customer’s charter booking receipt, sent immediately after booking their jet charter, itemizes exactly how much SAF the Victor member has purchased.
At the end of each month, we then share with Neste a list of all the Victor customer flights that flew which included a voluntary SAF purchase. Neste then transport the SAF paid for by our customers from their refinery in Porvoo Finland to Helsinki Airport where it is used by one of Neste’s partner airlines, enabling real in-sector climate benefits.
The process ends when we send our customers their ‘Delivery Confirmation’, essentially a receipt, itemizing both the amount of SAF they paid for (which was used by the scheduled airline), and the corresponding carbon emission reduction achieved. The customer can use their Delivery Confirmation for their annual Scope 3 carbon emission reporting if they are signed up to Science-Based Targets.
Considering the elevated price of SAF, do you think that sustainable fuel alternatives can be adopted by public aviation services? Or would you argue that aviation should become pricier for all?
Considering we are in a climate crisis where we must accelerate the decarbonization of aviation coupled with the fact people are demanding greener methods of transport, I believe SAF should be made available to the wider public, not just private jet charterers.
Based on the significant demand for SAF from our customers, who do not all exclusively fly private, we think there are many climate-conscious first-class, business class, and premium economy flyers, who would voluntarily purchase SAF if only they could in a credible, transparent way.
The interesting point is that if one in five of all flights included 30% SAF today, that would equal 18 million tonnes of SAF, getting us roughly to where we need to be to achieve aviation’s Net Zero ambition in 2050.
What plans do you have for the company and how do you see your partnership with Neste developing?
We are talking with schedule airlines about how to incorporate our ‘Pay Here, Use There’ blueprint, while also introducing leaders of different capacities to Neste. So, our more general goal is to encourage other aviation companies to take similar environmentally friendly climate initiatives. In the shorter term at Victor , our aim is to have one in four of our Members making SAF purchases by the end of the year — and eventually our entire consumer base. We are driven by the recognition that it is crucial to educate people on the positive environmental impacts of SAFs.
