Wednesday 30 March 2022

British Airways becomes first airline to use UK-produced SAF at scale

British Airways (BA) has become the first airline to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced on a commercial scale in the UK.

It has signed an agreement with Phillips 66 for supply, which produces the fuel in its Humber Refinery.

BA has stated it will now power flights using the fuel, which is made from waste gases, feedstock and cooking oils.

The fuel is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 80% compared with regular kerosene and will help BA reduce its lifecycle emissions by 100,000 tonnes – enough to power 700 carbon-neutral flights from London to New York.

Its parent company, International Airlines Group, has pledged to invest $400 million (£305m) in the next two decades on SAF.

BA has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and is hopeful this step will help it to achieve this.

Chairman, Sean Doyle, said: “Being the first airline to source sustainable aviation fuel produced at commercial scale in the UK is another breakthrough moment for us and the airline industry.

“Our supplies of SAF from Phillips 66 Limited will allow us to progress with our ambitious roadmap to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner and will play a role in our commitment, as part of International Airlines Group, to power 10% of flights with SAF by 2030.”

Phillips 66 Lead Executive, Darren Cunningham, said: “We were the first in the UK to co-process waste oils to produce renewable fuels and now we will be the first to produce SAF at scale.”

“It's great to see British Airways is the first airline in the world that started using sustainable aviation fuel produced at scale in the UK - an important milestone towards our ambitious Jet Zero targets,” added Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.