Air Canada Promotes Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel

(26 April 2022, 11:28 +07)  Air Canada celebrated Earth Day on 22 April by dedicating Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to four flights through its Leave Less Travel Program. 

The four commercial flights, operated with Boeing 737 Max 8, Mitsubishi CRJ-900 and Airbus A220-300 aircraft, departed from San Francisco last week to major hubs in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.

Powering aircraft with SAF directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at the source. The four flights allowed Air Canada to reduce emissions by approximately 39 tonnes of CO2e, compared with the combustion of conventional fossil jet fuel. That represents the equivalent of two rounds trips between Ottawa and Vancouver, or roughly 19,000 km, by car. The SAF was sourced from Neste.

Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8

"Air Canada has been involved in the advancement and development of sustainable aviation fuel for a decade and we are proud to continue to lead the way in Canada when it comes to aviation climate action," said Teresa Ehman, Senior Director, Environmental Affairs at Air Canada. "SAF is the main avenue by which Air Canada and the aviation industry as a whole will reduce their GHG emissions, as the industry continues to develop other aircraft technologies such as electric, hybrid or hydrogen aircraft at scale in a commercially meaningful way."

With Air Canada's Leave Less Travel Program, corporate customers can purchase SAF, carbon offsets or a combination of both to offset or reduce GHG emissions related to business travel and reduce their carbon footprint.

The program is one of the many comprehensive initiatives being implemented as part of Air Canada's Climate Action Plan and an additional step towards achieving the airline's long-term goal of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.

"The road to decarbonizing aviation requires a collective effort and is why Air Canada actively works with government, producers, and aviation stakeholders to accelerate and develop a commercial production of SAF in Canada," Teresa added. "Because SAF will play an important role in decarbonizing the industry, we welcome corporate Canada to join our Leave Less Travel Program to increase the market demand for SAF in Canada as well as to reduce the environmental impacts of their business travel."