We are a unique investment company, dedicated to sustainability in the aviation industry

Sustainability is becoming the aviation industry’s #1 issue

But to make the transition to net-zero a reality, there is an urgent need for more investment and greater collaboration

Our team is a unique mix of aviation, sustainability and investment experts...

...all dedicated to funding the journey to carbon-neutral skies by 2050.

News & Articles

Sustainable Aviation in a Shifting Landscape – the View from Europe

In this article, SkiesFifty partner Robert Boyle explores whether, despite global setbacks, the outlook for sustainable aviation could be more positive in regions like Europe and China, where investment and regulation are driving stronger progress.
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SkiesFifty and Catalsys Collaborate to Decarbonize Aviation Ground Operations and Advance Alternative Propulsion Solutions

PRESS RELEASE: SkiesFifty and Catalsys are proud to announce a strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of innovative green power solutions for the aviation sector. This partnership will provide carbon-free electricity for aviation ground operations and advance research into alternative propulsion systems for aircraft.
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SkiesFifty and Frontline BioEnergy Join Forces to Transform the Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Waste

PRESS RELEASE: SkiesFifty and Frontline BioEnergy are proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership to advance the commercialization of waste-to-energy technology, targeting the production of SAF.
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SkiesFifty and Gigablue Announce Largest Ocean Carbon Removal Agreement, Capturing 200,000 Tons Over Four Years

PRESS RELEASE: SkiesFifty is deepening its relationship with Gigablue with a strategic investment in marine-based carbon removal with an agreement for 200,000 carbon credits over four years, aligned with SkiesFifty’s mission to invest in scalable solutions for aviation’s net-zero goals.
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Amadeus unveils investment proposal for debut SkiesFifty sustainable aviation fund

PRESS RELEASE: Amadeus has signed a LOI with the intention to invest in the debut fund from SkiesFifty, a global organization dedicated to sustainable aviation, part of a wider ambition to build a more sustainable travel industry.
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Achieving sustainable aviation will require new kinds of collaboration

In this article, originally published in Ishka: Aviation Finance, SkiesFifty partner, Simon Talling-Smith outlines how industry-focused investment funds could help bridge the gap.
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Building a Sustainable Future for Aviation: Insights and Inspiration from the MENA Region

In this article, SkiesFifty partner Simon Talling-Smith argues that decarbonizing aviation is one of the hardest sustainability challenges and looks at the Middle East’s ability to align around visionary goals and wonders if it could serve as a compelling model for sustainable transformation.
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Offsetting SkiesFifty’s Climate Impact

As an investment company dedicated to accelerating aviation’s journey to net zero, we want to offset our own air travel emissions in a comprehensive and transparent way. But with so many initiatives and schemes to choose from, what is the most effective way of mitigating our climate impact?
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Boeing and SkiesFifty Launch Partnership to Help Decarbonize Aviation

PRESS RELEASE: Boeing and SkiesFifty are joining forces to accelerate sustainability solutions for aviation. As an initial project, the companies will help in testing and advancing Firefly Green Fuels’ cutting-edge technology to increase SAF production in the UK
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The devil in the detail – how achievable are airlines’ SAF targets?

A key factor in the aviation industry’s plans to reach net zero is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Most airlines are targeting SAF usage of 10% by 2030, but is this target achievable? SkiesFifty Partner, Robert Boyle, takes a look at the facts.
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Q&A with SkiesFifty's Krishnan Narayanan

Ishka SAVi speaks with Krishnan Narayanan on what sets the new firm apart from other climate technology investment catalysts and his initial market impressions after nine months on the road building a team, devising the right strategy and fundraising.
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SkiesFifty, Gigablue, and RAIN agree to strategic partnership to revolutionize ocean-based carbon removal

PRESS RELEASE: Today, SkiesFifty, RAIN and Gigablue announced a collaboration to scale up Gigablue's groundbreaking carbon removal system.
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Sustainable Aviation in a Shifting Landscape – the View from Europe

In this article, SkiesFifty partner Robert Boyle explores whether, despite global setbacks, the outlook for sustainable aviation could be more positive in regions like Europe and China, where investment and regulation are driving stronger progress.
Read More

SkiesFifty and Catalsys Collaborate to Decarbonize Aviation Ground Operations and Advance Alternative Propulsion Solutions

PRESS RELEASE: SkiesFifty and Catalsys are proud to announce a strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of innovative green power solutions for the aviation sector. This partnership will provide carbon-free electricity for aviation ground operations and advance research into alternative propulsion systems for aircraft.
Read More

SkiesFifty and Frontline BioEnergy Join Forces to Transform the Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Waste

PRESS RELEASE: SkiesFifty and Frontline BioEnergy are proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership to advance the commercialization of waste-to-energy technology, targeting the production of SAF.
Read More

SkiesFifty and Gigablue Announce Largest Ocean Carbon Removal Agreement, Capturing 200,000 Tons Over Four Years

PRESS RELEASE: SkiesFifty is deepening its relationship with Gigablue with a strategic investment in marine-based carbon removal with an agreement for 200,000 carbon credits over four years, aligned with SkiesFifty’s mission to invest in scalable solutions for aviation’s net-zero goals.
Read More

Why SkiesFifty?

Sustainable aviation is essential
Sustainability is becoming the #1 issue for the aviation industry. It accounts for ~2.5% of global emissions and ~4-6% including non-CO2 effects, with the share set to grow over time. Aviation is committed to net carbon neutrality by 2050, but to make this transition a reality, there is an urgent need for more investment and greater collaboration.
The industry is not yet on track to achieve it
Whilst many individual players have plans and initiatives, collectively the industry is falling far short of what is required. Under current, business-as-usual scenarios, aviation emissions are set to rise by 2% per year. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) currently costs between 2 and 5 times the cost of regular jet fuel and accounts for only 0.1% of current fuel volumes. Given limited historical investment we are decades away from meaningful adoption of low emissions propulsion technologies for large, long-haul aircraft.
The solution is technology & collaboration
Only 25-40% of emissions can be reduced through efficiency gains; 60-75% require investment in new technology innovation and commercialization. Long investment cycles mean we need to find industry scale solutions in the next ~10 years. Typically, it takes time to implement new innovations in aviation and current funding is a mere fraction of what is needed for meaningful impact.
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Who We Are

We are a global investment and advisory firm focused on accelerating sustainable aviation.
We are committed to advancing aviation sustainability through strategic investment, innovation, and industry-wide collaboration. Our mission is to empower a faster, more effective transition to net-zero for global aviation.
We pursue financial returns with purpose.
We are commercial investors — and we believe that value and impact go hand in hand. Our returns must align with our mission: accelerating the aviation sector’s transition to net zero.
Our global team of over 30 brings deep sector expertise and global reach.
We are aviation specialists, energy analysts, chemical engineers, climate investors, and technology builders — with decades of collective experience across sustainability, infrastructure, and the full aviation value chain. Our diversity is a strength, enabling us to see the system as a whole and act with precision.
We connect the dots others cannot.
SkiesFifty plays a catalytic role. Both as investors and advisors, we help build the partnerships and coalitions that individual players cannot achieve alone — working across silos to unlock system-wide progress.
We invest across asset classes to unlock impact at scale.
The scale and complexity of the aviation transition demands flexibility. We invest across venture capital, private equity, public markets, and infrastructure — backing breakthrough technologies and scalable solutions that can drive structural change.
Our expertise embraces the full range of decarbonisation solutions.
From SAF and carbon removal to advanced propulsion and autonomous operations, we understand what is needed — and we are investing to achieve it.

Meet our Team

A team of aviation industry, sustainability and finance professionals – a unique combination of expertise.

Partners

Krishnan Narayanan
Partner
COO of RAIN; former partner and regional leader at PwC Strategy&; extensive experience in alternative investments, sustainability and new technology.
Simon Talling-Smith
Partner
Former CCO Qatar Airways and EVP British Airways; extensive aviation leadership experience and a deep understanding of innovative technologies.
Glenn Morgan
Partner
Former CTO at IAG and founder of the Hangar 51 CVC. Seasoned tech & aviation executive with leadership roles in Emirates, IATA, oneworld, British Airways and IAG.
Robert Boyle
Partner
Former Chief Strategy Officer at IAG, aviation expert with over three decades’ experience in leadership roles spanning strategy, commercial, operations, finance, innovation, partnerships and M&A.
Kurt Stache
Partner
Former CMO at American Airlines, over 25 years of cross-functional leadership experience in AA’s commercial, finance, strategy, operations, and international business development.
Julia Sattel
Partner
Former President of Amadeus and VP Strategic Product Marketing at Toshiba; extensive technology leadership experience with a passion for success through innovation.
Laura Byrnes
General Counsel & COO
Former SVP & Head of Business & Legal Affairs, BBC Studios, APAC.
David Hughes
Partner
Former Vice Chairman, Petrochemicals Europe, Asian Clean Fuels Association. Former Vice President, SABIC, Board Member of multiple Petrochemical JVs in Middle East. Founder of Catalsys.
Kevin Fothergill
Partner
Former Commercial Director at Johnson Matthey with 20 years' experience in hydrogen, fuel cells and clean energy. Former Chair of the UK Hydrogen Hub.
John McCreery
Partner
John is a former senior partner with Bain & Company. He is focused on energy and sustainability with deep experience in strategy, M&A, performance and operations
Nicolas Bourret
Partner
Former Partner Bain & Company. Private Equity investor. Deep experience in investment strategy, due diligence and value creation in the Energy space.

Wider Team

Paul Miles

Investment Principal

Former Director Booz & Co. / PwC Strategy&. Extensive experience in financial modelling, due diligence, investment strategies. Renewable technology specialist.

Lulu Zou

Investment Principal

Extensive engineering and private equity expertise. 10 years+ in the oil and gas industry, as well as Private Equity experience as a board member for multiple businesses.

Jonathan Trippett

Comms & Creative

A comms professional with extensive experience helping brands have impact. Former Global Communications Director at Booz & Co.

Mark Carter

Senior Analyst

Formerly KPMG Advisory, research and investment analyst with a particular interest and passion in decarbonisation and the energy transition.

Geoff de Groot

Senior Consultant

Former Senior Associate Strategy& with extensive experience in growth strategy and due diligence with a focus on cleantech businesses

Puneeta Mongia

Strategy & Due Diligence

Chartered aeronautical engineer, with 10 year’s experience with Airbus UK, before transitioning to a 20-year career in Commercial Due Diligence, Strategy and Transformation.

SkiesFifty is an initiative from RAIN, and benefits from the extensive finance and investing experience of the RAIN team.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Robert Swan OBE, polar explorer

Get in touch

If you are interested in discussing any aspect of our mission to fund the journey to carbon-neutral skies, we want to hear from you.

General enquiries

Click below to get in touch to find out more about us, send any media or press enquiries, investigate job opportunities or anything else...

General

Proposals for investment

Use the link below to get in touch if you have a technology, innovation or project that you are looking for investment in...

Proposal

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