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4 October, 2023

Emirates announces partnership with Shell for 300,000 + gallons of sustinable aviation fuel

Edited by Travel Weekly

Emirates has announced an agreement with Shell Aviation for the supply of over 300,000 gallons of blended SAF for use at the airline’s international hub in Dubai (DXB).

The first SAF delivery under the agreement is expected to commence before the end of the year, making it the first time that SAF is supplied through the DXB airport fuelling system.

The agreement is the latest step forward taken by Emirates as part of its environmental strategy that focuses on three areas: emissions reduction, responsible consumption, and the conservation of wildlife and habitats.

As part of the agreement, Emirates will track SAF delivery and its use data through Avelia, one of the world’s first blockchain-powered SAF solutions.

Avelia is powered by Shell Aviation and Accenture, with support from Energy Web together with American Express Global business travel.

Through Avelia, Emirates will purchase the physical SAF and associated environmental attributes to help decarbonise its Scope 1 related emissions, while Scope 3 environmental attributes associated to the same physical SAF will be purchased by Shell Corporate Travel to help decarbonise its related business travel.

By using Avelia, the agreement demonstrates how book and claim solutions can enable airlines and corporates to both share the environmental benefits of SAF.

SAF fuelling an Emirates flight. (Supplied)

“We are proud to work in partnership with Shell to make a SAF supply available for Emirates in Dubai for the first time, and to utilise the Avelia platform that provides business travellers the flexibility to align their sustainability targets and reduce their environmental footprint when travelling,” president, Emirates, Sir Tim Clark, said.

“We hope that this collaboration develops further to provide an ongoing future supply of SAF in our hub, as there are currently no production facilities for SAF in the UAE.

“Aviation plays a vital role in Dubai and the wider UAE economy, and we look forward to continue collaborating with like-minded organisations and government entities to look at viable solutions that introduce more SAF, a fuel that is currently extremely limited in supply, into the aviation fuel supply chain and support Emirates’ efforts to reduce emissions across our operations.”

SAF Biofuel. (Source: Australian Aviation)

As a safe and fully certified drop-in fuel compatible with existing aircraft fleet and airport infrastructure, SAF can be blended with conventional jet fuel at a ratio of up to 50 per cent, creating an aviation fuel that is significantly lower in lifecycle carbon emissions. In its neat form, SAF can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80 per cent compared to conventional jet fuel.

“Emirates and Shell have a long-standing commercial relationship, and it is fantastic to build on this to now work together on decarbonisation. This agreement marks a step forward for the aviation industry in the UAE,” VP, Shell Corporate Travel, Chu Yong-Yi, said.

“Enabling SAF to be supplied at DXB for the first time is an important milestone, and a perfect example of how the different parts of the aviation value chain have a role to play in unlocking progress on SAF.

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