United Airlines to use Neste’s SAF at O’Hare in Chicago

United Airlines announced they will begin using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Chicago.

Finnish refiner Neste will begin supplying SAF at the airport from August onwards. The airline has signed an agreement with Neste for 1m gallons of SAF at ORD during 2024.

The airline was the leading SAF user in the US during 2023 and the agreement with Neste makes O’Hare the fifth airport where United has purchased SAF for operational use.

United has so far purchased SAF for airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, London, and Amsterdam.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker joined the airline’s leadership at ORD to highlight the role of midwestern state’s tax credits in bringing SAF to one of the largest airports in the US.

“Since day one as Governor, I’ve committed to making Illinois a national leader in sustainability and clean energy, which is why I was proud to support a nation-leading SAF tax credit last year,” said Governor JB Pritzker.

“I’m pleased to see United Airlines making this significant move forward by using SAF daily in flights from O’Hare,” US Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said.

“One of the most important things we can do to make American aviation more sustainable is increase the supply of SAF. At the federal level, I’ve been pushing for the increased use of SAF, and I’m going to keep pushing to increase the supply of American-grown, American-made SAF, a true win-win solution that supports domestic farmers and blenders while reducing our nation’s carbon footprint.”

United has been an advocate to grow the SAF market in the US and pushed for adoption of a federal SAF Blender’s Tax Credit and DOT grants to promote SAF usage . At the state level, the airline has helped secure the passage of SAF tax credits in Illinois, Colorado, California and Washington that encourage the purchase of SAF for local airports.