Air Canada today announced that it has signed an agreement with Neste to purchase 77.6 million litres (20.5 million U.S. gallons) of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ as it continues to pursue its climate plans and aspiration.
Neste, one of the world’s leading producers of SAF, will deliver the neat SAF purchased in a blended form to the Vancouver marine terminal starting next month, with further shipments 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 SAF supply remains very limited and costly, and can only satisfy a very small fraction of worldwide demand. In 2024, IATA announced that even a tripling of SAF production in 2024 would still only account for 0.53% of aviation’s total fuel requirements in 2024. Air Canada along with other major Canadian companies, has been engaged with governments in Canada to advance the availability of SAF and encourage support for the development of a cost-competitive Canadian-made supply of SAF for commercial aviation. Achieving this will require a regulatory approach that balances demand with supply, in order for aviation to decarbonize through energy transition while mitigating impacts on consumers. Canada is uniquely positioned to lead in the production of SAF with its abundant renewable feedstocks, advanced refining capabilities, and innovative technology providers, 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 towards its long-term aspirational goal of net-zero GHG emissions from all its global operations by 2050, and its absolute midterm GHG net 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 cargo freight forwarders can purchase scope 3 environmental attributes associated with SAF, carbon offsets or a combination of both related to their own business air travel or cargo shipments on Air Canada. This program is one of the many initiatives being implemented to help customers with their own environmental sustainability goals.