Delta Airlines and Shell Aviation sign 10m gallon SAF agreement

Delta Airlines has agreed to purchase up to 10m gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from Shell Aviation over two years. The SAF will be supplied to the airline’s hub at Los Angeles International Airport, California.

According to Delta, the new agreement will increase the airline’s SAF commitments to more than  200m gallons, surpassing the halfway mark to its goal of 10% SAF usage by 2030.

“There isn’t enough SAF available today to fuel the world’s commercial airlines for a single day,” said Pam Fletcher, chief sustainability officer, Delta Airlines. “That’s why Delta continues creating demand signals like this arrangement with Shell – to show this major decarbonisation lever is worth investing in and growing.”

The agreement also includes Delta using blockchain-powered book-and-claim platform Avelia, to track SAF and environmental data while avoiding problems such as double-counting. The company was launched by Shell, Accenture and Amex GPT last year.

Jan Toschka, president, Shell Aviation said deals like this provide the demand that will further the growth of SAF production and scale supply.

“This marks another important development for the future of sustainable aviation, as ambitious offtake agreements like this can hold the key to driving the airline industry’s transition toward a more sustainable future,” said Toschka.

Delta added that the deal was aided by California’s long-standing low-carbon fuel standard that provides incentives for producers to supply SAF to the state. With other states now exploring similar SAF programmes and tax incentives, Fletcher, of Delta Airlines, is hopeful this will promote rapid growth in the sector.

“We can have a huge impact in just a few years if stakeholders and government work together to provide the same level of investment and incentives currently available for the fuel that runs our cars,” she said.