The fuel has been in use in the country since July 1 thanks to new customs provisions
Swiss International Air Lines announced that it has established the first end-to-end logistics chain for importing SAF to Switzerland, allowing it to become the first commercial airline to use SAF in its scheduled operations from the country.
The airline has teamed up with Finnish engineering services company, Neste to import its ‘MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel’ which is slated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% when compared to fossil jet fuels and is created from 100% renewable waste such as used cooking oil and waste animal fat.
The initial delivery of the fuel is enough for more than 175 flights and can be delivered at Zurich Airport via the conventional hydrant system. According to the carrier, the Neste SAF blend is Jet A-1 certificated, and can be used just like fossil jet fuel on all aircraft types without any modifications required to the aircraft or its engines.
Dieter Vranckx, Swiss CEO, said: “We are delighted to have received the first delivery of our own-sourced SAF into Switzerland so soon after these new customs regulations came into force. For years now, Swiss and the Lufthansa Group have been lobbying for the import of sustainable aviation fuels, because these will be the key technology for the mid-to-long term future in enabling us to achieve our climate goals for 2030 using present aircraft powerplant technologies.”
Customers can purchase SAF to offset CO2 emissions generated by their flight under the ‘Compensaid’ scheme. Passengers can input their flight details and choose to offset emissions by purchasing SAF or they can invest in climate protection projects across the globe.
Vranckx, added: “A next step must be to scale up the production of SAF, which is still very expensive, to bring its price down closer to those of fossil fuels. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers who have opted to buy SAF via Compensaid and, in doing so, have made their own valuable contribution to reducing carbon emissions.”
