We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which will allow more corporate customers to access IATA’s CO2 Connect platform. I am especially delighted because I was able to make the partnership official in person in Miami at the World Sustainability Symposium hosted by IATA. It’s exciting to join forces with an organization as influential as IATA, and even though the partnership is new, our history with them goes back even before the founding of Thrust Carbon.
Clearing the the runway
The seed that grew into Thrust Carbon was sewn at a Hackathon hosted by IATA in 2019. Our founders, Mark Corbett and Kit Aspen were preparing their pitch for a related idea when they came to an epiphanic conclusion: there was an obscene lack of data quality in the travel industry. They decided in the moment that was the critical problem that they would solve. After some convincing of the judging panel and a quick change to the script, Mark and Kit pitched Thrust Carbon; and it landed them three Innovation Awards at the event and many valuable relationships that keep us going to this day.
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Left to right: Anderson Pacchioni, IATA Senior Manager Data & Technology Programs; Kit Aspen, Thrust Carbon Founder; Mark Corbett; Thrust Carbon Founder |
5 years later…
Our partnership agreement with IATA was finalized on Tuesday 24th September 2024 at the World Sustainability Symposium in Miami, and the weight of the five-year history was palpable.
“It’s really cool to see things coming full circle” Kit summarized. “This new collaboration is a big deal because it connects Thrust Carbon's best-in-class data-feeds, in-depth insights, and carbon budget tooling with IATA’s CO2 Connect emissions calculator—powered by their detailed methodology and data sourced from the world's leading airlines.”
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Left: Peter Cerda, IATA Regional Vice President, Americas Right: Tan-Strehler Weston, Thrust Carbon Head of Policy & Operations |
What is CO2 Connect?
IATA CO2 Connect is an emissions calculator based on the globally-accepted IATA methodology which uses operational (fuel burn) data provided by airlines rather than modeled averages.
Frederic Leger, IATA’s SVP of Commercial Products and Services adds, “The corporate travel sector needs accurate and comparable CO2 emissions calculations for its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) monitoring and reporting. By working with Thrust Carbon, we will respond to this important need with calculations based on actual operational data provided by a growing community of airlines.”
What makes IATA’s methodology stand out?
The IATA methodology is among the newest air emissions methodologies. It is based on actual fuel burn data directly from airlines for 75 aircraft types — the world most commonly-used aircrafts — covering 98% of the global passenger fleet. We were also impressed that IATA consulted with airlines, manufacturers and global standards-setting authorities during the development of the methodology.
The data is updated regularly based on new fuel burn data from IATA's partners, ensuring that CO2 Connect will remain up to date and its users will benefit from advances in aircraft technology over time.
Finally, IATA's methodology requires a relatively moderate amount of input data in order to produce a granular result for the user. Often, granular methodologies require very granular inputs, so the methodology’s efficiency is an important feature.
What does this mean for our customers?
As a result of our collaboration, our corporate customers can now have easier and wider access to the CO2 Connect methodology, including their data flowing in and out of every leading travel management company and expense platform. Kit explains, “This enables more consistency for those customers, and the ability to accurately plan carrier and route changes to help meet reduction goals.”
“As aviation’s main trade association, IATA has a long tradition in setting industry standards, and we are thrilled with the initiative they are taking towards achieving greater transparency and sustainability.” -Kit Aspen
Ready for takeoff
This collaboration represents another step forward in our mission to provide our customers with best-in-class data, and to being the leading multi-methodology sustainability intelligence platform in travel. We are looking forward to seeing the CO2 Connect platform continue to evolve and offer greater sustainability and transparency in aviation.
Want to get started reporting on your own travel emissions? Take a look at Thrust Calculator, it will be the foundation of your sustainability intelligence stack.
