Air New Zealand announces new SAF purchase

Air New Zealand has agreed a deal to buy 2.4 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from specialist supplier Neste.

Finland-based Neste said Air New Zealand’s latest purchase of SAF was the largest ever made by an airline outside of North America and Europe. The fuel will be delivered before the end of 2024.

Neste first suppled SAF to Air New Zealand in 2022 and this larger new deal will see the sustainable fuel supplied to Los Angeles International airport between 1 April and 30 November this year.

Air New Zealand’s chair Therese Walsh said: “Decarbonising Air New Zealand’s operations is essential for its long-term ability to connect New Zealanders to the world, as well as support the country’s trade and tourism sectors, and SAF is a key enabler of this. 

“Sustainable aviation fuel is currently the only solution to significantly reduce emissions from long haul flight, but it currently makes up less than 1 per cent of the global fuel supply.

“While the SAF supply is small compared with the airline’s overall fuel use, it is nine times the size of Air New Zealand’s first shipment of SAF from Neste in 2022 and demonstrates growing co-operation between two like-minded organisations to advance the supply and use of SAF.” 

SAF, which is produced from feedstocks such as cooking oil and animal fat waste, can cut emissions by up to 80 per cent over the lifecycle of the fuel compared with traditional kerosene-based jet fuel.