Sustainable Travel Trends 2026: Smarter Event Air Travel

For planners, sustainability is moving from a peripheral concern toward a core strategic consideration. A growing number of stakeholders, from executives to attendees, are looking for events that align with broader Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. This places a significant focus on one of the largest contributors to an event’s carbon footprint: air travel. Understanding the upcoming trends is crucial for staying ahead of the curve, meeting compliance, and delivering exceptional value. This guide breaks down the key sustainable air travel trends you need to know to future-proof your corporate events.

The Non-Negotiable Demand for Emissions Transparency

Corporations are under increasing pressure from investors, regulators, and customers to accurately report their environmental impact. For event planners, this means the carbon emissions from attendee travel are becoming harder to treat as an invisible cost. They are a key metric that must be tracked, reported, and ultimately reduced. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has recently expanded the scope of reporting to thousands of companies and, according to a survey done by BTN Europe, only 51% of travel managers felt ready to report under CSRD 2025. Even if your company isn’t directly in scope, it likely operates within a supply chain that is. Event-related travel data will be a mandatory part of these comprehensive reports, moving transparency from a “nice-to-have” to a legal and financial routine.

Leading corporations are already integrating sophisticated carbon accounting platforms into their travel management systems. Therefore, when they approach an agency that can’t deliver accurate, verifiable emissions data for corporate events, that agency risks having its proposal rejected in favour of competitors who can.

We provide the data you need to comply. When you book through PRO SKY, you gain access to detailed reporting on the carbon footprint of your group’s flights. This isn’t just an estimate; it’s calculated based on specific routes, aircraft types, and load factors, giving you the robust, auditable data required for frameworks like CSRD.

Beyond Offsetting: The Strategic Shift to Absolute Emission Reduction

Carbon offsetting has been the go-to solution for years, but its limitations are increasingly recognised. Offsetting compensates for emissions elsewhere; it doesn’t eliminate your event’s direct impact. The emerging benchmark is absolute reduction, i.e. preventing the emissions from being generated in the first place. EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation initiative is one of the main frameworks fostering this trend and building regulatory momentum with tangible and ambitious targets for companies – namely by mandating a 2% supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at EU airports, with this target rising to 6% in 2030 and 70% in 2050. Using SAF can reduce the lifecycle carbon emissions of a flight by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel. This represents a genuine, direct reduction in your event’s footprint.

A growing group of forward-thinking companies is starting to shift their policies from “offsetting” to “insetting” and direct reduction, recognizing that this is a more credible and impactful approach. Naturally, they are seeking partners who can facilitate this and contribute with state-of-the-art know-how to design their strategy.

PRO SKY provides visibility on airlines and flight options that support SAF adoption and supports the integration of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) into group air travel. This allows you to market your corporate event as actively “lower carbon” through direct action, which is a powerful narrative shift, turning a logistical necessity into a demonstrable sustainability achievement.

The Ripple Effect: Choosing Sustainable Destinations and Hubs

The sustainability of a corporate event doesn’t start at the airport arrivals hall. It begins with the choice of destination. Cities and venues with green accommodation options, a commitment to renewable energy, and effective waste management can significantly reduce the overall environmental impact of an event. As highlighted in our blog post on Top 10 Sustainable Cities for Group Travel, destinations are increasingly competing on their green credentials.

At the same time, sustainability and accessibility need to be considered together. A destination’s overall impact is shaped not only by what happens on the ground, but also by how people get there. PRO SKY supports event planners beyond the limitations of regular scheduled flights alone. Where routes, capacity, or timing make it necessary, we tailor aircraft charter solutions that improve accessibility and help avoid inefficient air travel patterns such as multiple connections or extended detours.

Using PRO SKY’s platform, event planners can quickly compare destination scenarios across costs, emissions, and itineraries. This data-led approach is complemented by hands-on consulting from PRO SKY’s experts, helping planners assess trade-offs and make informed, realistic decisions early in the planning process. The result is a more holistic event strategy that balances sustainability goals with budget, logistics, and attendee experience.

Embedding Circularity from Take-Off to Touchdown

Circular thinking aims to eliminate waste and continuously reuse resources through cradle to cradle systems with a lasting effect. This helps to fight the “single-action sustainability” trend, often seen in businesses that rely on greenwashing instead of transformative strategy. Significant waste generation and resource consumption is always a challenge for events, regardless of their scale. Designing logistics that prioritize reusable materials, digital workflows, and sustainable services can turn corporate events into models of responsible management.

Some innovative events are already implementing this, from digital swag bags to water refill stations or zero-waste food menus. The next frontier is extending this mindset to the travel phase itself.

We help you design a circular air travel experience. This can include the use of digital tickets and other logistics information, choosing airlines with strong waste-reduction programs onboard or developing custom merchandising in partnership with local and conscious suppliers. It’s about creating a seamless experience that begins the moment an attendee leaves their home.

Sustainability as Your Ultimate Leverage

A sustainable event strategy is increasingly viewed as more than just a cost centre or a compliance exercise; it is a powerful business lever. It enhances your company’s brand, attracts and retains top talent who want to work for responsible employers, and builds trust with a climate-conscious client base. As we move into 2026, the companies that can authentically communicate their sustainability efforts will have a distinct competitive advantage.

Businesses have started to use their sustainability credentials more actively in marketing and employer branding. They are showcasing their commitment in recruitment drives and client pitches. Your corporate events are a live demonstration of that commitment.

See all PRO SKY sustainability solutions

We can support you in developing your sustainability approach within the organization. If the impact of travel is becoming harder to ignore in your event planning process, and you don’t want to frame your planning as an either-or decision between compelling destinations that support your event’s message and travel choices that feel overly constrained by sustainability considerations, PRO SKY offers expertise in air travel to events to help you approach both strategically. With the right tools, data, and solutions — from SAF to personalised assistance — we bring expertise and practical input to help translate sustainability goals into well-executed events. This reflects our own commitment to running a sustainable business.