The Aviation Challenge (TAC) is SkyTeam’s global initiative designed to accelerate sustainable innovation and knowledge sharing in the aviation industry. At an awards ceremony hosted by SAS in Copenhagen, SkyTeam honored achievements in driving sustainability progress across 18 categories.
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The 4th edition of TAC brought together 22 participating airlines, including subsidiaries, affiliates and non-SkyTeam member airlines for the second year. Between 26 September and 26 October 2025, participants completed more than 80 showcase flights—the highest number to date—to test and demonstrate innovative solutions that help enable sustainability progress.
Overall, TAC 2025 showcase flights demonstrated:
– A 13.5% average improvement in CO₂ intensity (CO₂/RTK) compared to each participating airline’s own standard operations.
– A 12% reduction in CO₂ intensity compared to the industry average.
This was achieved through operational enhancements, such as route optimization practices, maintenance advancements, weight reduction initiatives and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) use.
224 solutions and initiatives were submitted for TAC 2025 awards. All entries were rigorously assessed against a comprehensive set of technical criteria by a panel of aviation and sustainability experts, including the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and PA Consulting.
Awards were given across 18 categories, organized into 4 main groupings: direct impact, organizational transformation, leadership and inspiration. The award winners were selected by a jury of industry leaders from organizations including ACI World, Air Transport Action Group, Cargolux Airlines, EUROCONTROL, Fiskars Group and SimpliFlying.
Key highlights:
KLM Cityhopper‘s 100% SAF ticket pilot, which embedded the full SAF surcharge into ticket prices to test customer acceptance and normalize SAF adoption.
TUI introduced 3D printing of non-bear loading aircraft parts to reduce lead times and emissions.
Air France replaced dry ice with reusable gel packs on short/medium‑haul flights from CDG to maintain cold chain without sublimation emissions.