Star Alliance, the world’s largest network of global airlines, saw more than 1,000 people hitting the track at its charity run along the Kallang River this morning. Held as part of celebrations for the Alliance’s 25th anniversary and the first year since the opening of its Singapore office, the event raised S$200,000 in support of healthcare personnel working on the front lines against Covid. Runners were flagged off by local paralympian archer Nur Syahidah Alim, CEO of Singapore Airlines Goh Choon Phong and CEO of Star Alliance Jeffrey Goh. Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Transport, Sustainability and the Environment, graced the event as guest of honour. Star Alliance also held a highly anticipated lucky draw for runners, giving out sponsored travel and leisure prizes worth more than S$80,000. These included business class air tickets on Star Alliance member carriers like Singapore Airlines, United, Air Canada and ANA, hotel stays at the Pan Pacific and Parkroyal Collection, as well as Marina Bay Sands dining vouchers. The event was supported by platinum sponsors NEC and Tata Consultancy Services, as well as other partner companies, member airlines and friends of Star Alliance.<br/>
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Swiss International Air Linesplans to start using small amounts of solar fuel in its planes as of next year, the company’s CEO has said. Dieter Vranckx told the SonntagsZeitungExternal link newspaper that the airline’s goal was to reach a target of 11% sustainably-sourced fuel by 2030. This is part of the company’s goal of cutting CO2 emissions in half by 2030, and becoming climate-neutral by 2050. Amounts of solar fuel used would remain small for the near future, however. Due to limited production capacity and high prices, “it’s not realistic to progress more quickly”, Vranckx said. The SWISS CEO also warned that in the coming years, travel could become more expensive: not just due to current inflation, but also due to the cost to airlines of transitioning to more climate-friendly models. The solar fuel is produced by Synhelion, a spin-off company from the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich. Their technology, first announced in 2019, involves producing liquid fuels such as kerosene or methanol directly from sunlight and air, via a multi-stage thermochemical process.<br/>