Etihad Airways Starts Using SAF Provided by Japan

The first Etihad Airways aircraft to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) provided by ITOCHU Corporation and NESTE departed today from Tokyo Narita airport for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The first international airline to purchase Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Japan was Etihad, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, thanks to a partnership in which ITOCHU provided Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Etihad. The historic flight, EY871, took off from Tokyo Narita at 1500. The airline sector needs alliances like the ones we have established with ITOCHU and NESTE to promote wider SAF adoption, according to Cassie Mackie, Vice President Procurement & Supply Chain, Etihad Airways. Being the first international airline to purchase and utilise SAF made in Japan on planes leaving Japan and witnessing this cooperation take flight makes us really proud. “Etihad is dedicated to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and halving our 2019 emissions by 2035. This kind of cooperation between governments, corporations, and the aviation sector, which boosts SAF supply and availability at airports, helps pave the path for wider adoption. The industry must take decarbonization seriously”. A 40% blend of SAF was used on today’s flight, which was the first delivery of about 50,000 gallons of SAF that will be used on other flights in the coming weeks. A non-Japanese airline has never before employed SAF equipment made in Japan. On the basis of the projected fuel amount (20,000 USG) at a mix of 39.66% SAF, the flight reduced CO2 by around 75.2 tCO2. Through optimised flight planning for contrail prevention and the use of SATAVIA technology, the trip also reduced non-CO2 environmental impacts, with a forecasted net decrease in climate impact of 71 tCO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). Up to 60% of aviation’s overall climatic impact is attributed to the surface warming caused by aircraft condensation trails, or contrails. Contrail prevention was formerly difficult or impossible due to technical issues, but UK-based SATAVIA’s atmospheric modelling now makes it possible, in addition to post-flight climate impact assessments, to optimise flight plans for contrail prevention. The Japanese government announced its intention to replace 10% of the aviation fuel used by Japanese airlines with SAF by the year 2030. To do this, ITOCHU set up a SAF supply network at domestic airports all throughout Japan for domestic airlines. This network is currently being expanded to include international airlines, starting with Etihad. At Haneda and Narita International Airports, ITOCHU has already created a domestic SAF supply chain that includes SAF import, quality control, delivery to airports, as well as an aircraft refuelling network. ITOCHU intends to boost the supply of SAF to both domestic and foreign airlines by extending its SAF supply base to Central Japan International Airport and Kansai International Airport.