Air Canada signs an agreement with Neste, the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), to purchase 77.6 million litres (20.5 million US gallons) of MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ (website in English), as it continues its environmental sustainability commitments.
Michael Rousseau, President and CEO of Air Canada, said: “Air Canada is actively working to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions and SAF is an essential component of our multi-faceted approach to reduce our impact on the environment and promote environmental sustainability in our operations. This purchase of SAF from Neste contributes significantly to our goal of purchasing SAF for one per cent of our estimated jet fuel use by 2025.” He added: “While Air Canada and the Canadian aviation sector will continue to rely on imported SAF, this fuel must also be widely available in Canada to achieve our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. That is why we are calling on the federal and provincial governments to support the development of a competitive SAF production industry and market in Canada.”
Carl Nyberg, Executive Vice President of Neste, said, “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. This is the first time our SAF has been supplied to Canada. It underlines our commitment to supporting the Canadian aviation sector in its efforts to mitigate emissions and also demonstrates the important role that political support can play in accelerating the use of SAF. We look forward to continuing our excellent collaboration with Air Canada.” Neste, one of the world’s leading producers of SAF, will deliver the pure SAF, purchased in blended form, to Vancouver Marine Terminal beginning in December, with further shipments to follow throughout 2025. This purchase represents Air Canada’s first commercial import of SAF into Canada.
Although some additional capacity is coming online, the current global supply of SAF remains very limited and expensive, and can only meet a very small fraction of global demand.
In 2024, IATA announced that even tripling SAF production in 2024 (website in English) would only meet 0.53% of total aviation fuel needs in 2024. Air Canada, along with other major Canadian carriers, has worked with Canadian governments to boost the availability of SAF and promote the development of a cost-competitive supply of Canadian-made SAF for commercial aviation. Achieving this will require a regulatory approach that balances demand with supply so that aviation can decarbonize through the energy transition while mitigating impacts on consumers. Canada is uniquely positioned to lead in SAF production thanks to its abundant renewable feedstocks, advanced refining capabilities and innovative technology suppliers, according to C-SAF.
By leveraging these strengths, the country can create a resilient supply chain that not only supports its environmental goals but also drives economic growth and job creation.
Air Canada continues to work toward its long-term goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its global operations by 2050, and its mid-term absolute net GHG reduction targets by 2030 for both its air and ground operations, compared to its 2019 baseline.
Through Air Canada’s Leave Less Travel program, corporate customers and freight forwarders can purchase SAF-associated Scope 3 environmental attributes, carbon offsets, or a combination of both related to their own business air travel or shipments through Air Canada Cargo. This program is one of many initiatives being put in place to assist customers with their own environmental sustainability goals.
Source: Air Canada.