LONDON – American Airlines, often tainted with bad press and headlines, is making important steps toward becoming the worlds leading carrier in sustainable aviation.
For the first time in commercial aviation industry history, a CORSIA-approved batch of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) was successfully delivered to American Airlines, the first of its kind in commercial aviation. The Oneworld Dallas-based carrier received its first batch of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel at San Francisco International Airport.
Neste is one of the world’s most sought-after and popular SAF producers and has begun its first delivered batch as part of a test pilot program to certify SAD as a CORSIA-certified fuel that can be used by any airline to meet its carbon emissions outlined by CORSIA standards.
What is CORSIA?
CORSIA is an acronym for Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. This is a scheme to lower carbon dioxide emissions for international flights and to limit the environmental impact of the aviation industry.
CORSIA was founded by ICAO – the International Civil Aviation Organisation. At the time of writing, American Airlines is the only airline to have taken delivery of Neste’s CORSIA-certified SAF.
Neste has always enjoyed a close working relationship with American Airlines, the world’s largest airline based out of Dallas. Neste also works with numerous stakeholders in the industry to fast-track and commercialise the use of SAF.
Fortunately, most airlines support Neste and CORSIA’s initiative to reduce carbon footprint and to prove society wrong that aviation indeed can be environmentally friendly.
Thorsten Lange, Neste’s Executive Vice President, Renewable Aviation, said: “Sustainable aviation fuel is widely acknowledged as a key element in achieving the aviation industry’s goals of carbon neutral growth from 2020 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.”
“The pilot with American Airlines was a perfect opportunity for proving the feasibility of delivering CORSIA certified SAF and gaining useful insights into setting up the process and the challenges we need to overcome to enable the implementation of CORSIA.”
Jill Blickstein, Head of ESG at American. “American is proud to partner with Neste to demonstrate how SAF can meet the robust sustainability standards that ICAO has established for CORSIA. Our work together will also help demonstrate to American customers that SAF can meet these high standards.”
Neste MY Sustainable Fuel is one of the worlds leading solutions for shaving off greenhouse fas emissions of flying as much as 80%, for the entire duration of the fuel’s life cycle. The SAF from Neste is 100% sourced from renewable waste.
Airports and airlines will not need to invest in extra infrastructure to accommodate the technology as the SAF is merely a mixture of the existing Jet A1 Fuel.
Finally, Thorsten Lange said: “Cooperation with American, ISCC and all other stakeholders involved was absolutely critical in achieving this important milestone. We will be sharing our experiences in ICAO’s upcoming Environmental Report.”
“Because in the end, we need cooperation with all stakeholders within the aviation industry to achieve the ambitious emission reduction goals.”
