Marking a first for the Airbus plant in Hamburg, Germany, two delivery flights for Air Transat flew from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (where the aircraft manufacturer’s Hamburg plant is based), fuelled with a kerosene blend containing 10% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Previously SAF was only offered to Airbus customers at its plants in Toulosue, France and Mobile, Alabama.

Both flights were bound for Montreal-Trudeau International Airport in Canada and the SAF was supplied by aviation fuel supplier, Air bp and produced by Neste. Commenting on the SAF fuelling, Jean-François Lemay, President and General Manager, Air Transat, said: “This initiative is part of our commitment to reducing our own carbon footprint while contributing to the achievement of the airline industry’s ambitious decarbonization targets.”

In addition to refuelling with SAF, both delivery flights were carbon-neutral because the kerosene fuel portion was offset by the purchase of carbon credits, making Air Transat the first Canadian carrier to operate carbon-neutral flights.

Christian Scherer, CCO Airbus commented:

Sustainability and efficiency are essential for our customers and for Airbus. Sustainable aviation fuel developments will play a key role in reducing the environmental footprint of the aviation industry. By using sustainable aviation fuels on delivery flights with partners like AerCap and Air Transat, who are flying the aircraft from Hamburg to their Canadian home base non-stop, we take concrete action to contribute to a more sustainable aviation future.

To enable SAF to be used for these flights Air bp was tasked with establishing a supply route, including transportation and storage facilities at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport. “We are excited to extend our collaboration with Airbus to fuel delivery flights from hamburg for the first time with SAF, building on previous delivery flights from Mobile, Alabama. We believe SAF is one of the aviation industry’s key routes to reducing carbon emissions and we are committed to supporting our customers to realise their low carbon ambitions.”

Air Transat recently announced another important SAF initiative. The carrier has reached an agreement with the SAF + Consortium of Montreal to purchase a large portion of its SAF production, which will be made from CO2 produced by large industrial emitters. Using a process called Fischer Tropsch (FT), the CO2 will be captured and converted into synthetic aircraft fuel, which is estimated to have an 80% lower carbon footprint than conventional jet fuel.

Leave a Reply