2025 Winner: Best Showcase Flight
In 2025, KLM organized 28 showcase flights as part of The Aviation Challenge to test a range of initiatives. One of them was to explore a critical question for aviation sustainability: How can passenger engagement help accelerate the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)?
While SAF is widely recognized as a key pathway to reducing aviation emissions, passenger awareness and participation remain limited. KLM used these showcase flights as a live testing environment to better understand how to inform, engage, and motivate passengers to take part in SAF initiatives.
Testing Incentives and Awareness Strategies
To explore how passengers respond to sustainability initiatives, KLM tested a combination of incentives and education.
One key initiative was a SAF priority boarding pilot. Passengers who chose to contribute to SAF were offered priority boarding as a tangible benefit, creating a direct link between sustainable action and passenger experience.
To support this, KLM launched a dedicated SAF information website, helping passengers understand what SAF is, why it matters, and how they can contribute. This was reinforced through a short SAF video shown in the inflight entertainment system, extending the message beyond the booking journey and into the onboard experience.
Together, these efforts were designed to make SAF more visible, understandable, and actionable for passengers.
Measuring Impact
The campaign reached passengers through a targeted email sent to 3,044 travelers. Of those, 2,421 opened the message, resulting in an open rate of nearly 80%, a strong indicator of interest and engagement. Yet only 716 people clicked on the link, so we have a major step to take in terms of action.
While awareness increased significantly, SAF purchases did not rise at the same rate during the showcase flights. This highlights a key challenge. Even when passengers are informed and engaged, converting that awareness into action requires additional drivers.
On the operational side, delivering 28 showcase flights required extensive coordination across teams and introduced communication complexities. Despite this, the initiative generated strong internal engagement, with cockpit and cabin crews expressing enthusiasm about participating in a large-scale sustainability experiment.
