Air New Zealand receives 500,000-litre SAF delivery

Air New Zealand announced that it has received delivery of 500,000 litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Wellington blended by Exxon Mobil and manufactured by EcoCeres in China.

The fuel was first-ever SAF to be delivered to the country’s capital and was produced from used cooking oil.

The airline said the fuel will be used on Air New Zealand’s ATR aircraft.

“To keep doing all these activities which enrich our country’s economy we must act as quickly as we can to transition to a lower-carbon future. At the moment, SAF is the key way aviation will move towards this,” said Kiri Hannifin, chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, Air New Zealand.

“Airlines are signing supply arrangements for SAF 10 years into the future and beyond, so we need to be part of the picture from the start otherwise New Zealand may fall behind.  While the volumes of SAF we are buying are very small compared to the amount of fossil jet fuel we use, they give an important signal to alternative fuel producers that we are open for business.”

Earlier in March, Air New Zealand issued a call seeking collaboration with SAF innovators and startups to become a supply partner. The airline is also actively looking for short, medium, and long-term SAF offtake agreements.

The airline said that securing SAF supplies is critical since it will be required to uplift SAF from Singapore and Vancouver due to SAF quotas in place in these regions.

Moreover, with more countries such Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China considering SAF mandates, the airline said it will have ensure it has SAF available to meet the expected demand.

*Correction: The first line of the article has been updated. The previous version incorrectly said 50,000 instead of 500,000 litres of SAF. We regret the error.