(NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES) The GBTA Foundation has launched SAF Corporate Connect during Climate Week NYC, opening a dedicated forum and self-guided learning hub to speed up corporate use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in business travel. The program, available immediately, aims to give corporate travel managers, sustainability leads, and industry professionals practical tools and real-world examples to fold SAF into company travel programs and help the sector move toward net zero emissions targets.
GBTA points to a clear problem: corporate demand for SAF remains low despite growing climate commitments. Recent research cited by the Foundation shows only 12% of companies purchase SAF certificates today, with limited budgets, low awareness, and process complexity serving as the main barriers. SAF Corporate Connect is built to address those roadblocks by pairing education with peer support and timely market updates.
SAF is widely seen as the key lever to cut aviation emissions this decade while electric and hydrogen options mature. According to the Foundation’s materials, SAF can cut lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel and is projected to deliver about 65% of the reductions needed for aviation to reach net zero by 2050. The business travel sector—worth an estimated $1.57 trillion worldwide—represents a strong demand signal to help scale supply, and airlines and suppliers are increasingly framing SAF as the heart of their decarbonization plans for the coming years.
What the new forum offers
SAF Corporate Connect brings together education, tools, and a global peer network in one place:
- Educational resources
- A comprehensive library, including the “SAF Playbook for Corporate Travel,” with step-by-step guidance to add SAF to travel programs.
- Practical tools
- Webinars, case studies, and interactive sessions that walk teams through purchasing options, integration strategies, and building strong business cases for internal leaders.
- Peer collaboration
- A global platform that connects corporates, suppliers, and experts to share best practices and lessons learned for scaling adoption.
- Market intelligence
- Timely updates on SAF supply, policy moves, and industry trends to support better decisions.
Policy and reporting work
The Foundation is expanding its policy and reporting work, pushing for clearer standards on SAF accounting—especially around book-and-claim models, where the environmental benefit of SAF used in one location can be credited to a buyer elsewhere. It is also urging stronger recognition of SAF’s environmental attributes in corporate net-zero frameworks such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, industry groups are increasingly rallying around demand aggregation, standard reporting, and practical buyer guidance to help turn early interest into real, scaled purchases across business travel.
“Clear standards on accounting and practical buyer guidance are critical to converting interest into real, scaled purchases.”
Why this matters for corporate travel programs
For many companies, the biggest hurdles are cost, supply, and reporting clarity.
- Cost: SAF remains more expensive than conventional jet fuel.
- Supply: Available volumes are still limited.
- Reporting: Without simple and trusted reporting rules, teams struggle to show progress toward climate goals and justify higher spend.
The Foundation’s initiative tackles these issues on multiple fronts:
- Education to close knowledge gaps.
- Tools to help teams plan and budget.
- Collaboration to share what works.
- Advocacy to create accepted methods for counting climate benefits.
Corporate travel managers say they need straightforward steps they can act on now. The “SAF Playbook for Corporate Travel,” along with case studies, aims to meet that need by showing how different companies have:
- Evaluated SAF options
- Worked with airlines and suppliers
- Brought finance and sustainability leaders into the process
The forum’s global peer community is designed to reduce trial-and-error by letting members compare approaches and learn from others facing similar budget and policy constraints.
Clearer guidance on book-and-claim and recognition in widely used target frameworks could help unlock more purchases by giving companies confidence their SAF investments will count in credible, comparable ways.
How this aligns with broader industry efforts
A broader slate of industry efforts sits alongside this launch. The program:
- Aligns with GBTA Sustainability Partners
- Complements ongoing airline commitments and government incentives
- Supports global alliances such as the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance
These efforts share the same outcome: bring more buyers to the table, make options easier to understand, and help suppliers scale production with dependable corporate demand.
Upcoming events and resources
The Foundation announced a learning event to keep momentum going:
- Webinar: “SAF Playbook: Lessons from Corporate Sustainability and Travel Teams”
- Date and time: Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 10:00am EST
A new roadmap also offers a practical path for companies moving from first steps to leading practices in SAF adoption across business travel.
How to get involved
For companies ready to engage, the Foundation invites interest:
- Email: [email protected]
- Updates and sign-up: available via the GBTA Foundation website
The hub is open to corporate travel managers, sustainability leaders, and other industry professionals who want to join the forum, share experiences, and stay current on market and policy changes.
Context on policy and technical information
Government policy will continue to shape the pace of SAF growth. For readers seeking a primer on how SAF is produced and why it matters for aviation emissions, the U.S. Department of Energy overview provides a clear, authoritative starting point: https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/sustainable-aviation-fuel.
While SAF Corporate Connect is a private-sector initiative, the Foundation’s push for standard reporting and recognition fits into a broader policy landscape where public incentives and rules can help:
- Close cost gaps
- Support new production pathways
- Build trust in accounting methods used by corporate buyers
The role of corporate demand and the stakes involved
GBTA emphasizes that the business travel community has a direct role to play in aviation’s climate path. By pooling demand and sharing what works, corporate programs can help signal steady purchasing interest to suppliers, which in turn supports investment in new SAF capacity.
That feedback loop—buyers seeking credible, reported emissions cuts and suppliers responding with more product—remains central to the Foundation’s strategy.
- Companies with large international travel footprints face high stakes as they balance budgets and climate goals.
- Many travel teams will look for options that show measurable progress year by year.
- SAF Corporate Connect positions itself as where those teams can find practical steps, connect with peers, and follow evolving standards that shape how results are counted and reported.
SAF adoption across business travel will not happen overnight. But the Foundation’s launch during Climate Week NYC sends a clear signal: there is a growing, organized effort to turn interest into action. With an estimated $1.57 trillion in annual corporate travel spending, even modest increases in SAF purchasing could help build the demand base needed for suppliers to expand.
The Forum’s mix of guidance, market updates, and advocacy seeks to lower barriers—cost, supply, and reporting—so more companies can act sooner.
For more information or to join SAF Corporate Connect, contact [email protected] or sign up for updates via the GBTA Foundation website. The initiative arrives as the United States 🇺🇸 and many global partners work to cut aviation emissions, and as corporate travel teams are asked to show progress that is both real and easy to report.
This Article in a Nutshell
GBTA Foundation has launched SAF Corporate Connect to speed corporate adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in business travel. The forum provides education, practical tools, market intelligence and a global peer network to address cost, supply and reporting barriers. With only 12% of companies currently purchasing SAF certificates, the initiative offers a SAF Playbook, webinars, case studies and tools to help travel and sustainability teams plan purchases, build business cases and integrate SAF into travel policies. SAF can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80% and could deliver roughly 65% of aviation’s reductions needed for net zero by 2050. The program also advocates clearer accounting standards, including guidance on book-and-claim and recognition in frameworks like SBTi. Companies can join via the GBTA Foundation and attend upcoming events such as the October 29, 2025 webinar.
