Scoring points with sustainable aviation fuel
In collaboration with various partners, Swiss has established a logistics chain for importing sustainable fuel into Switzerland. It is thus the first scheduled airline to use sustainable fuel for its regular flight operations from Switzerland.
Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss), in cooperation with Neste, one of the world's largest producers of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), has for the first time established a holistic logistics chain for the import of SAF into Switzerland. The import of aviation fuel with biogenic content into Switzerland and its refueling at Swiss airports has been possible since July 1, 2021 due to new customs regulations.
Fuel from waste and residual raw materials
According to the airline, the initial delivery comprises over 460 tons of pure SAF. With this amount of fuel, thanks to modern aircraft such as the Airbus A32Xneo family, it would be possible to operate around 175 flights in purely mathematical terms. SAF is refueled at Zurich Airport via the regular airport hydrant system, it said. The mixture from Neste is Jet A-1 certified and can be used like fossil kerosene for all aircraft types without requiring any modifications to the aircraft or the engines.
The SAF fuel is made from sustainably sourced, renewable waste and residual raw materials, according to the company. In its pure form and throughout its lifecycle, its use can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent compared to fossil fuel, Swiss writes. The independent organization Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) certified the production as sustainable in April this year, it said. Neste has many years of experience in the production of biofuels and has been working successfully with the Lufthansa Group for many years.
Passengers can promote SAF use
SAF's initial import was also due to the commitment of Swiss passengers via the Compensaid platform (swiss.compensaid.com). Since 2019, customers have been offered the option of purchasing sustainable fuel via Compensaid as part of the booking process in order to reduce CO2-emissions from their air travel.
Dieter Vranckx, CEO of Swiss, says: "The next step is to scale SAF's production, which is still relatively very expensive, to get closer to fossil fuel prices."
SAF as a key technology
SAF has an outstanding role to play in the decarbonization of air transport, as the airline emphasizes. Against this background, it is considered essential that the commercialization and market launch is promoted and advanced in an internationally coordinated manner.
Source: Swiss
