Air Canada signs 60,000-tonne SAF agreement with Neste

Montreal-based Air Canada announced that it has signed an agreement with Neste to purchase 60,000 tonnes (20.5 US gallons) of unblended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The fuel will be used on flights from Vancouver International Airport, making it first time that Neste has supplied SAF to Canada. The agreement also represents Air Canada’s first commercial import of SAF into the country.

“Air Canada is actively pursuing efforts to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions and SAF is a critical component of our multifaceted approach to reducing our impact on the environment and promoting environmental sustainability in our operations. This SAF purchase from Neste contributes significantly to our target of procuring SAF for one per cent of our estimated jet fuel use in 2025,” said Michael Rousseau, president and CEO at Air Canada.

The agreement between the two firms build on the existing partnership between the two companies and supports Air Canada’s environmental sustainability commitments which include a target to procure SAF to account for 1% of the airline’s estimated 2025 jet fuel use.

In 2023, Neste supplied SAF purchased by Air Canada at San Francisco International Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

“We are proud to expand our partnership with Air Canada by supplying them with a large volume of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel for use at Vancouver Airport. It is the first time our SAF is supplied to Canada,” said Carl Nyberg, executive vice president at Neste.

In addition to blending SAF on flights, the airline’s Leave Less Travel Program offers solutions for corporate customers and cargo freight forwarders to purchase scope 3 environmental attributes associated with SAF, carbon offsets or a combination of both related to their own business air travel or cargo shipments on Air Canada.