21 July 2020: Achieving carbon neutrality for a safer, healthier and cleaner environment by 2050 is the one common aim of the entire aerospace community and every company is doing its bit for reducing the carbon footprints. In a historic milestone Airbus is leading the way in expanding their sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) operations in commercial deliveries. Recently Air Transat took delivery of two brand new A321LR on lease from AerCap using 10 per cent SAF. The aircraft flew non-stop from Airbus delivery site in Hamburg, Germany to Montreal, Canada on SAF blend. The SAF was supplied by Air bp and produced by Neste. About a decade ago Airbus and Air Transat had launch an environmental programme and projects like fuel efficiency.
“Sustainability and efficiency are essential for our customers and for Airbus. Sustainable aviation fuel developments will play a key role in reducing the environmental footprint of the aviation industry. By using sustainable aviation fuels on delivery flights with partners like AerCap and Air Transat, who are flying the aircraft from Hamburg to their Canadian home base nonstop, we take concrete action to contribute to a more sustainable aviation future,” said Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer Airbus.
“We are very pleased to be a part of this historic milestone, working together with our partners at Airbus and with our long-time customer, Air Transat, to help them meet their sustainable growth ambitions,” said Philip Scruggs, President and Chief Commercial Officer of AerCap. “AerCap is committed to facilitating the move towards more sustainable air travel underpinned by its target to transition its fleet to approximately two-thirds new technology aircraft by 2021.”
“It is an honour for us and a sign of confidence from Airbus to be its first customer to take advantage of this new delivery option at its Hamburg plant,” said Jean-François Lemay, President and General Manager, Air Transat. “This initiative is part of our commitment to reducing our own carbon footprint while contributing to the achievement of the airline industry’s ambitious decarbonisation targets.”
Both today and tomorrow’s delivery flights will be carbon-neutral because the kerosene fossil fuel portion will be offset by the purchase of carbon credits.
“We are proud to be the first Canadian carrier to operate carbon-neutral flights, and we will continue to pursue our commitment to providing our passengers with a travel experience that takes account of our environmental footprint,” Mr. Lemay continued.
With this delivery, Airbus became the first aircraft manufacturer to offer commercial aircraft customers an option of sustainable fuel in the tank. These deliveries were started since 2016 from the Airbus headquarters production facility in Toulouse, France, followed by Mobile, Alabama, USA. Also, Airbus has already successfully established SAF flights out of Hamburg with its Beluga transport aircraft since December 2019. Such efforts from OEMs will go a long way to achieve carbon neutrality for the aviation sector.
