Neste, Emirates Ink Sustainable Aviation Fuel Pact — OPIS

Finnish refiner Neste and Emirates have expanded their partnership with an agreement regarding the supply of more than 3 million gal of blended sustainable aviation fuel in 2024 and 2025, the airline said Wednesday.

The SAF will be supplied for flights departing from Amsterdam Schiphol and Singapore Changi airports.

"Emirates' expanded partnership with Neste represents the largest volume of SAF to be uplifted of any airline based in the Middle East and Africa to date," the airline said. "The blended SAF will be comprised of over 1 million gallons of neat SAF. This represents a blended ratio of over 30% neat SAF combined with conventional Jet A-1 fuel.

"Before the end of this year, the airline will also uplift SAF for the first time from its Dubai hub."

Airline President Tim Clark called the announcement "a milestone for Emirates and represents the acceleration of SAF procurement for our operations."

"It's also one of the many initiatives we are focused on to reduce our carbon emissions," he said, "which includes operating fuel-efficient aircraft, stepping up our fleet renewal from 2024, in addition to driving operational fuel efficiency.

"Our ongoing partnership with Neste also demonstrates our active engagement and support of the rapidly developing SAF industry, and we hope that the robust demand coming from Emirates and other airlines encourages the scaling up of SAF and other emerging clean propulsion technologies."

Earlier this year, Emirates, in partnership with Neste and other industry stakeholders, successfully completed the first 100% SAF-powered demonstration flight in the region, utilizing a Boeing 777-300ER operating on 100% SAF in one engine.

The airline said that it has made "significant strides along with its industry partners around the technical analysis and certification requirements that support standardization and future approval of 100% SAF flying."

The airline's first flight powered by SAF blended with jet fuel took place in 2017 from Chicago. Since then, the airline has also uplifted SAF for flights from Stockholm, and currently operates flights from Paris, Lyon and Oslo with blended SAF.

It says that it is in discussion with stakeholders to help scale the production and supply of SAF.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

--Reporting by Michael Schneider, mschneider@opisnet.com; Editing by Jordan Godwin, jgodwin@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2023 13:21 ET (17:21 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.