Air New Zealand has this week received a shipment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Saf) into Wellington, its first delivery to the city. Made by EcoCeres in China from 100% used cooking oil and supplied and blended by Exxon Mobil, the 500,000-litre delivery is equivalent to 165 flights on an A320 aircraft between Auckland and Wellington. This Saf shipment will be used on Air New Zealand’s ATR aircraft.
Saf makes up less than 1% of world jet fuel supply and airlines are scrambling to source it. Air NZ needs it to help replace about 20% of some of the 1.3 billion litres of jet fuel it burns a year, mostly on overseas flights.
Overnight German airline Lufthansa announced it would charge up to $125 more a ticket to help pay for its Saf commitments. The fuel is up to three times as expensive as traditional jet fuel. The airline says the Saf delivered to Wellington represents life-cycle carbon emissions savings of at least 80% compared with fossil jet fuel.
Air New Zealand’s chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, Kiri Hannifin says moving away from purely using fossil fuels for Air New Zealand’s operations is critical. “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 a.
