London Stansted Airport has this week revealed that Jet2 will be using Sustainable Aviation Fuel to power their operations at the airfield.
It is understood this move makes the airline ahead of the government’s mandate on SAF, which is due to be introduced in 2025.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Jet2 & SAF at London Stansted…
Jet2 has purchased 650 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel from Shell Aviation to be used at London Stansted.
It will be used to add a 1% SAF blend onto a number of departing flights from the airport this year.
The UK carrier has done something similar for it’s operations at Bristol Airport, and is expanding this slowly.
Furthermore, the airline has also made an equity investment into a SAF production plant.
This is expected to be built in the north-west of the UK.
Mitigating Climate Impacts from Both Sides…
Commenting on this move out of London Stansted with sustainable aviation fuel was Steve Heapy, the CEO of Jet2:
“Today’s announcement further demonstrates the tangible actions that we are taking to mitigate our climate impacts, and it means will be using a SAF blend from London Stansted in 2024, in addition to Bristol Airport.”
“We see SAF as critical in helping the industry decarbonise and as well as doing this, we can use this to ensure our operations are ready for SAF uptake both now and in the future, when we anticipate its use will grow materially.”
“We very much see 1% as the starting point and we want to grow this over the coming years.”
“Today’s announcement shows how committed we are to SAF and how much we believe in unlocking its huge potential.”
“Unfortunately, there is still some way to go”.
“Without more supplies of UK SAF and greater support to incentivise its uptake and reduce its cost, our industry and UK holidaymakers are at a disadvantage.”
“The UK Government must implement the price revenue mechanism earlier than the current timeline of 2026.”
“[This] means we can secure investor confidence [&] build the UK SAF plants that we need”.
Overall…
In conclusion, steps like this by Jet2 and London Stansted offer confidence into the use of sustainable aviation fuel.
Looking ahead, all eyes will be on how this will expand for the airline.
The quicker that higher blends of SAF are implemented, the more carbon emissions that can be cut.
However, the UK Government is being urged to do more in speeding up production of this fuel.
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