Pratt & Whitney Canada is to expand its year-old carbon offset service to include operators of the company's helicopter engines enrolled in the Eagle Service Plan (ESP) and Fleet Management Program (FMP) pay-per-hour maintenance programmes.

“Across all of the diverse missions served by our helicopter customers, from search and rescue to corporate passenger transport, we are seeing growing demand for products and services that promote sustainability in airborne operations,” says vice president, customer programmes Scott McElvaine. “Our carbon offset service provides a fully transparent and cost-effective solution to address this demand, so that operators easily compensate for their carbon emissions footprint.”

The P&WC service automatically aligns operators' flight hours with offset purchases, in collaboration with South Pole, a globally recognised carbon offset provider. It was introduced in December 2020 for business aviation operators enrolled in the ESP programme.

“With the growing interest in SAF as one route to reducing aviation's consumption of fossil-based fuels, operators may also use carbon offsets to reduce our impact on the environment,” adds McElvaine. “While SAFs offer significant CO2 emissions reduction, carbon offsets can compensate for the remaining emissions to help achieve carbon neutrality.”

P&WC helicopter engines are currently certified to operate with blends of up to 50 per cent SAF with standard Jet A kerosene.