Many airlines are moving towards Net Zero Carbon Emissions by using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). In this Malaysia Airlines also listed their name by operating the first passenger flight between Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
On 5th June 2022 World Environment Day, the National carrier of Malaysia – Malaysia Airlines operated their first passenger flight MH603 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) at 12:25 which arrived at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) at 13:30. This historic flight was made by B737-800 aircraft fueled by a blend of conventional jet fuel and Neste’s SAF. Neste SAF is produced from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials such as animal fat waste that was used for SAF fueling on this flight, which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%.
Neste, which is one of the world’s largest producers of SAF supplied the fuel through a supply deal with PETCO trading (UK) Ltd which is PETRONAS. The refueling was carried out by PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB) at KLIA. The long-term supply of SAF will be made available at KLIA for the potential airlines customers and for the future flights operated by sister airlines under Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) including Firefly. Neste is fully committed to its ambitious emission reduction goals and is currently expanding its global SAF production capacity to 1.5 million tons by the end of 2023.
Philip See, Group Chief Sustainability Officer of MAG said, “MAG aims to be a pioneer in using SAF for flights in Malaysia as part of our commitment to achieving socio-economic development and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We have taken proactive measures in minimizing our carbon footprint from the ground up through measures taken within our operations, including fuel efficiency programmes such as SAF.
With the commencement of our first passenger flight using SAF we take necessary steps to minimize our environmental impacts and plan for more flights powered by SAF for the betterment of the industry, nation and future of our planet. Moving forward we will look to make SAF the cleaner and more viable energy option for our regular flights by 2025.”
Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is aviation’s global program to stabilize and reduce carbon emissions. In 2027 this program will enter its mandatory phase. For this PETRONAS is evaluating planned developments of greenfield and brownfield biorefineries and coprocessing at existing PETRONAS facilities. PETRONAS aims to supply SAF domestically and internationally with additional operational flexibility to produce hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) or Renewable Diesel.
According to Sami Jauhiainen, Vice President APAC, Renewable Aviation at Neste, “This collaboration with PETRONAS enables our first supply of Neste MY SAF to Malaysia. I am excited to see how countries and airlines in the Asia-Pacific region are setting ambitious targets to decarbonize aviation and increasingly many airlines are taking SAF into use to reduce their emissions and enable their travelers to fly more sustainably. Neste is committed to play its part with the ongoing expansion of our global production capacity to 1.5 million tons of SAF by the end of 2023 ready to support the Asia-Pacific and global aviation markets.”
Malaysia Airlines feels proud and reaffirms that these flights of their national airlines are committed to a Sustainable Tomorrow and mark significant progress through SAF for regular flights by 2025.
