Summary
- Air New Zealand’s Opportunity Statement engages global innovators to collaborate on sustainable aviation fuel for emissions-free aviation.
- The airline seeks short, medium, and long-term SAF agreements to reduce carbon emissions by 28.9% by 2030, advocating for a strategic regulatory package.
- Analysis by the SAF Consortium outlines a pathway for a domestic SAF industry meeting 50% of New Zealand’s aviation fuel demand by 2050.
Working in aviation, one sees many press releases and announcements daily, but today, something new arrived from Air New Zealand – An Opportunity Statement. The airline has invited innovators and start-ups worldwide involved in sustainable aviation fuel to join it as it plots a pathway to emissions-free aviation.
Kickstarting the SAF discussion
Air New Zealand’s Opportunity Statement gives interested suppliers an overview of the carrier’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) requirements based on its network, fleet, sustainability targets and criteria. The Kiwi full-service carrier said the statement is intended to kickstart discussions around identifying new opportunities and ongoing collaboration in the manufacture and supply of SAF.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The person best placed to explain the initiative is Air New Zealand Chief Sustainability Officer Kiri Hannifin who pointed out that SAF is integral to the aviation industry’s future, which she says faces a very steep challenge to decarbonize.
This is especially so for Air New Zealand, as most of its emissions come from its extensive network of medium and long-haul routes, where SAF will be vital until new propulsion technologies mature. Hannifin explained further:
“Air New Zealand plays an essential role in connecting New Zealand’s people, tourism and trade to the world, but we must find a way to do this more sustainably and as quickly as we can. A stable supply of SAF is critical to our ability to reduce carbon emissions and continue to play this role for the long term.”
To solve that dilemma Air New Zealand has taken this novel approach, which it said is the first time an airline has made a global call to potential suppliers in the growing SAF industry to work together on supply opportunities. The airline has already announced various net zero emissions projects and previously opened up its ambitions to new technology aircraft manufacturers in much the same way as this Opportunity Statement does with decarbonization.
Image: Air New Zealand
Giving certainty to the SAF industry
Cognisant of the significant investments needed, Air New Zealand said it is looking to enter short, medium and long-term SAF offtake agreements, recognizing that these are often critical to the business case for a plant, mitigating risk through providing demand certainty for the SAF producer, the investors and financiers.
Air New Zealand has already signed up to an interim target, validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative, which requires a 28.9% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. To do that, the airline anticipates it will need to use SAF for around 20% of its total fuel uptake by 2030, and it is actively advocating for a long-term and strategic regulatory package to sit alongside that goal.
Photo: Airbus
While there is no SAF currently available in New Zealand, analysis carried out by the SAF Consortium, which includes Air New Zealand, Z Energy, Scion, LanzaTech and LanzaJet, shows a pathway to develop a domestic SAF industry to meet 50% of the nation’s aviation fuel demand by 2050, supported by a domestic feedstock supply chain.
In 2022, Air New Zealand received the first import of SAF into New Zealand when it purchased 1.2 million liters, which would fuel 400 flights from Auckland to Wellington using 100% SAF.
What do you think of this initiative from Air New Zealand? Let us know in the comments.
