Emirates takes first SAF delivery at Heathrow

Emirates announced that it has taken the first delivery of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Shell at London Heathrow Airport.

“Emirates is eager to take this next step in our SAF journey with Shell Aviation and London Heathrow supporting us with this fuel supply arrangement in one of our biggest operations outside of Dubai. The LHR Incentive Programme will support the SAF market’s increasing momentum, allowing airlines like Emirates to take advantage of its availability and make it more commercially viable,” said Adel Al Redha, deputy president and chief operations officer, Emirates Airline.

Over 3,000 metric tonnes of neat SAF, blended with conventional jet fuel, will be supplied into the fuelling infrastructure network of the Heathrow airport until the end of summer 2024.

This is the first time that Emirates will be using SAF to power some flights at London Heathrow and represents the largest volume of SAF it has purchased to date.

The offtake is part of London Heathrow’s SAF Incentive Programme, which ensures its affordability and accessibility for airlines operating at the airport. Earlier this year, Heathrow announced that in 2024, £71m will be available to airlines through the incentive, targeting up to 2.5% of aviation fuel used at Heathrow to be SAF –  amounting to 155,000 tonnes of aviation fuel.

“We are thrilled to support Emirates with Heathrow’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) scheme. SAF is crucial to decarbonising long haul flights as it can cut the carbon on routes like London to Dubai without the need for new aircraft or infrastructure. Thanks to commitments from airlines like Emirates, we expect to support the use of up to 155,000 tonnes of SAF at Heathrow this year. Now we need to ramp up SAF production in the UK so the country can benefit from jobs, growth and energy security as more airlines make the switch to more sustainable fuels,” said Ross Baker, chief commercial officer, Heathrow.

Emirates will account, track and trace SAF deliveries at London Heathrow as well as its sustainability attributes through robust reporting methodologies. The SAF that Emirates has purchased from Shell Aviation will be safely dropped into existing airport fuelling infrastructure and aircraft jet engines.

Shell Aviation President Raman Ojha said: “After our successful collaboration with Emirates to supply SAF to Dubai (DXB) last year, we are pleased to continue our support for their sustainability journey by enabling the airline to decarbonise flights out of the UK. This development also marks further progress in the growth of our global SAF supply network. Our goal is to continue to work with forward-thinking players in the aviation industry, like Emirates and London Heathrow, to make SAF available in more locations around the world.”