Thursday, June 27, 2024 Air New Zealand has taken another significant step towards its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 with the receipt of its first shipment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Wellington. This marks the airline’s inaugural delivery of SAF to the nation’s capital city. The 500,000-liter shipment, equivalent to fueling 165 A320 flights between Auckland and Wellington, was manufactured by EcoCeres in China using 100 percent used cooking oil.
The fuel was supplied and blended by Exxon Mobil. This delivery of SAF represents a life-cycle carbon emissions savings of at least 80 percent compared to traditional fossil jet fuel. Kiri Hannifin, Air New Zealand’s Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer, emphasized the importance of this transition.
“Moving away from purely using fossil fuels for Air New Zealand’s operations is critical,” she stated. This delivery to Wellington is a crucial part of Air New Zealand’s ongoing efforts to reduce its environmental impact and transition towards more sustainable aviation practices. “As the main driver of climate change, the global economy, including New Zealand, must rapidly transition away from our high reliance on fossil fuels.
For a small island nation in the South Pacific, alternatives are even more important because we are heavily reliant on flying to connect with each other in our own country, as well as when we travel abroad. Aviation also plays a very important role suppo.