Virgin Atlantic is a UK-based airline founded in 1976, headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex.
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Virgin Atlantic discloses Scope 1 and 2 emissions with assurance, but absolute emissions are rising as capacity grows. SAF uplift is negligible at 1% of fuel. The airline was sanctioned by the UK ASA for misleading climate claims and continued making those claims after the ruling. Lobbying against UK SAF policy strengthening has also been documented.
Virgin Atlantic scores 32/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified July 2026.
That places Virgin Atlantic joint 557th of 847 companies scored, and 2nd of 9 in Aerospace.
Where Virgin Atlantic sits among aerospace peers.
Among the 9 major aerospace brands we've scored, Virgin Atlantic sits 2nd of 9.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
Virgin Atlantic reports 18% lower CO2/RTK than ten years ago, but absolute emissions growing as capacity expands 18%.
SAF represents only 1% of fuel (11,688 tonnes in FY2025), meeting bare UK mandate but falling short of 10% by 2030 target.
No TNFD disclosure or quantified biodiversity footprint.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
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Get in touch →Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Transparency & Accountability (7/10, 6/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Energy Source (2/10, 3/10).
The one company in the sector scoring above Virgin Atlantic.
See the full Aerospace table →The formula and all 13 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
8 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“Fuel consumption is calculated for every flight taken during the year, using fuel on board data collated directly from the aircraft”
“Scope 1 emissions of about 3,812,024,000 kg CO2e, Scope 2 emissions of approximately 1,291,000 kg CO2e”
“emitting 18% less CO2 per revenue tonne km than we did ten years ago, despite growing capacity by 18%”
“Virgin used only 11,688 tonnes of SAF, representing 1.0% of their total fuel use”
“Virgin Atlantic secured an offtake agreement with Gevo, which is equivalent to 216,000 tons over seven years”
“Virgin last year bought more than 600,000 litres of 'used' cooking oil from China and Indonesia to turn into SAF”
“The airline has removed millions of single-use plastic bottles and introduced sustainable alternatives”
“The ASA ruled against Virgin nine months ago for using this language in an advert, saying it was likely to lead a 'significant proportion' of people to 'overestimate' the environmental benefits”
“InfluenceMap's analysis reveals the weakened SAF mandate came after pressure from Shell, BP, the International Airlines Group, Airlines UK and Virgin Atlantic airline”
“Non-financial and sustainability statement 26 · Business as a force for good · Pages 27 to 77”
“2024 ESG Independent Limited Assurance Report · Responsible Supplier Policy · Modern Slavery Statement 2024”
“Virgin Holdings Limited commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2023 base year”
“The ASA ruled Virgin Atlantic's '100% sustainable aviation fuel' radio ad misleading — listeners would think the fuel itself was 100% sustainable.”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
Virgin Atlantic is a UK-based airline founded in 1976, headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex. The carrier operates transatlantic and European routes with a fleet of Airbus aircraft. Mid-size by global aviation standards, it competes with legacy carriers and low-cost operators. Emissions-intensive operations dominate its environmental footprint.
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