Signature Flight Support, Neste and NetJets have celebrated the delivery of an initial ceremonial gallon of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in the US and London Luton in the UK. This initial delivery marks the start of a global initiative to provide a permanently available supply of SAF to private aircraft.
Through its company-wide Signature Renew programme, Signature Flight Support has partnered with Neste in making low emission, renewable fuel a reality for business aviation, starting with two of Signature’s locations on its global network. By offering a consistent blended SAF supply Signature Renew is providing a safe and dependable low-emission option via Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel at SFO. This investment will allow customers such as NetJets, which was the inaugural recipient for the first uplift of SAF in San Francisco and Luton, to help meet their own sustainability goals by taking advantage of more than a 25% reduction in direct net lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from this blended fuel.
“The wait for SAF is over. We’re filling aircraft right now – thousands of gallons a day, every day – at SFO and Luton to meet the growing market demand,” said Tony Lefebvre, COO for Signature.
SAF is the cornerstone of aviation’s answer to environmental responsibility. Creating an affordable alternative to traditional Jet A is vital to ensuring we’re able to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint. We’re proud to be able to deliver this capability to all private aviation customers at SFO and Luton and look forward to growing our capacity at additional locations and launching new sustainability programmes next year.
As a leading producer and supplier of renewable fuels Neste is committed to helping grow the supply of SAF globally. It expects to have the capacity to produce some 1.5 million tonnes of SAF annually by 2023. As a drop-in fuel offering an immediate way to reduce the direct greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft, SAF requires no new investments or modifications to aircraft or airport fuel distribution systems. When used in its neat form, Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% over its lifecycle compared to traditional fossil jet fuel.
Commenting on the collaboration with Signature and NetJets, Neste’s VP Renewable Aviation North Amercia, Chris Cooper, said the partnership is driven by two things: “The demand for private and business air travel is growing and the people onboard these aircraft want their carbon footprint to go down. Neste, Signature and NetJets, as industry leaders, decided to work together to connect the dots from fuel production, to supply and distribution and to aircraft operations to make sustainable business and private air travel a reality. This is just a first step and I look forward to working with these great partners to get more SAF to more airports and in more aircraft.”
As the primary launch customer, NetJets has committed to purchase up to 3 million gallons of SAF through Signature Renew for all flights out of SFO and its Columbus International Airport home base in Ohio.
“Sustainability has been foremost on the mind of our clients and of NetJets, as we recently announced our expanded Global Sustainability Program,” said Brad Ferrell, NetJets Executive Vice President Administrative Services. “Signature and Neste have provided the solution for SAF in the market, and NetJets’ purchasing commitment helps ensure SAF’s continued availability. We are proud to join our partners in taking the lead in commercialising renewable fuel sources and adoption.”
