[IMPACT Interview] Proving What’s Possible: Virgin Atlantic’s Leadership in the SAF Transition

Introduction:

At the SAF Global Summit, we spoke with Holly Boyd-Boland, SVP Corporate Development & Legal Affairs at Virgin Atlantic. Holly shared the lessons learned from this milestone achievement, the significance of collaboration across the aviation value chain, and the critical policy and market interventions needed to scale SAF from demonstration to widespread commercial adoption.

Key Takeaways:

1. Flight 100 proved that 100% SAF is technically viable today—and has powerful catalytic value

Holly emphasized that the flight served as a proof-of-possibility moment for the aviation sector, demonstrating that 100% drop-in SAF can operate safely using existing aircraft, engines, and airport infrastructure. The flight delivered a 64% reduction in lifecycle emissions, equivalent to the cumulative efficiency improvements achieved across the jet age, and also showed a 40% reduction in particulate emissions, with benefits for contrails and local air quality. Its success has become a powerful inspiration and accelerator across industry, regulators, and the public.

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2. Radical cross-sector collaboration was essential— and must expand further to scale SAF globally

Flight 100 was made possible through a consortium including Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Imperial College London, RMI, fuel producers, and others, demonstrating the unique coordination required across aviation, academia, and energy. Holly stressed that collaboration must now evolve from ambition-setting to shared commercial and risk-sharing frameworks, because scaling SAF production will require new business models and investment approaches, not just technical readiness.

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3. Policy is the strongest lever to unlock investment and supply growth

While technology and feedstock innovation are critical, Holly highlighted policy as the largest bottleneck and most urgent enabling force. Virgin Atlantic strongly supports mandates—which consolidate voluntary demand into structured requirements—but she emphasized that mandates alone are insufficient without supply-side support, such as the UK’s proposed Revenue Certainty Mechanism (RCM) to provide long-term price visibility and reduce investor risk. Only with such mechanisms can SAF plants reach final investment decisions and construction at scale.

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4. Consumer and corporate engagement is both an opportunity and a challenge

Corporate customers are increasingly partnering on SAF through shared-premium models, helping send demand signals into the market. However, consumer engagement is far more complex. While 70% of travelers say sustainability matters, willingness to pay remains low, sustainability is not a top purchase factor, and more than 60% believe travel companies tend to greenwash. Virgin Atlantic sees transparency and accountability as essential to building trust, addressing skepticism, and ultimately developing willingness to participate in the premium required to scale SAF.​

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4. By 2030, success will be defined by meaningful deployment, not single demonstrations

Looking ahead, Holly outlined goals including 100% next-generation fleet transformation by 2028, demonstrating delivery of the 10% UK SAF mandate, and ensuring that enough production plants are in construction to remove investor uncertainty and place the industry on a path toward net-zero aviation by 2050.