(TAN): British Airways has taken delivery of the first batch of sustainable aviation fuel produced by Phillips 66 Limited, making it the first airline in the world to start using SAF produced on a commercial scale in the UK, the airline said.
The Phillips 66 Humber Refinery near Immingham is producing thousands of tonnes of SAF that will now help power a number of British Airways flights. The SAF is produced from sustainable waste feedstock at the refinery and British Airways will add it into the existing pipeline infrastructure that directly feeds several UK airports including London Heathrow.
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British Airways and Phillips 66 are both committed to a lower carbon future, the airline said. The sustainable aviation fuel bought by the airline will be enough to reduce lifecycle CO2 emissions by almost 100,000 tonnes, enough to power 700 net zero CO2 emissions flights between London and New York on its fuel-efficient Boeing 787 aircraft.
Sean Doyle, British Airways’ chairman and CEO, 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 (IAG), to power 10% of flights with SAF by 2030.
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Darren Cunningham, lead executive UK and general manager Humber Refinery, said: “Phillips 66 Humber Refinery is proud to supply British Airways with sustainable aviation fuel. 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. We’re currently refining almost half a million litres of sustainable waste feedstocks a day, and this is just a start.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “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.”
