By Joanna Plucinska and Sachin Ravikumar
LONDON (Reuters) -Decarbonisation efforts in the aviation sector will cost more money, but that cost should not fall to the consumer, easyJet (LON:EZJ) Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said on Wednesday.
He added that options to decarbonise, like creating sustainable aviation fuels, are not yet at scale and cost three to five times more than typical jet fuel.
"Our goal has been ... from an easyJet perspective, we have said one of the things we want to look at, is that this should not cost more to the consumer," Lundgren said in an interview at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London.
Lundgren also said a wide range of stakeholders including governments needed to chip in to ensure decarbonisation costs remain low.
He added that it was unclear whether there might have to be a period of higher prices due to sustainability costs and that it is in the interest of airlines to keep flying affordable.
"It depends on how quickly you can get to these technologies at scale," he told Reuters. "If you don't do that you can have less revenue because you get less volume."
A lot of the cost will depend on the speed of innovation, which Lundgren is hopeful can mitigate price hikes.
"New technology gives you benefits, and it burns less fuel. So I don't think necessarily the transition will be as expensive as some of the, you know, scary numbers that are out there."
To view the live broadcast of the Road to COP Stage go to the Reuters IMPACT news page: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/reuters-impact/