Virgin Atlantic Cargo: Accelerating SAF use
For Air Cargo Management, Phil Wardlaw, managing director at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, explains that the airline’s SAFc programme will help to scale-up the use of sustainable aviation fuel.
At Virgin Atlantic, we’ve been using the power of business for a good for 40 years, and we’re committed in our mission to net zero 2050 – from operating one of the youngest and most efficient fleets across the Atlantic to pioneering the push for adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
SAF typically delivers CO² lifecycle emissions savings of more than 70 per cent whilst performing like the traditional jet fuel it replaces, and it has a fundamental role to play in aviation’s decarbonisation and pathway to net zero 2050.
Today, SAF represents less than 0.1 per cent of jet fuel volumes and fuel standards allow for just a 50 per cent SAF blend in commercial jet engines.
Most aviation decarbonisation roadmaps agree that SAF could contribute around 40 per cent of the emission reductions needed to get the aviation industry to net zero by 2050. But to make this a reality, the production and use of SAF needs to ramp up – and fast.
We know our customers also care about transporting goods around the world as sustainably as possible. To support this, earlier this year Virgin Atlantic Cargo announced a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Certificate (SAFc) programme, designed to help freight forwarders and shippers manage their carbon emissions whilst demonstrating a joint commitment to scaling the SAF industry.
Customers participating in the scheme will contribute to our purchase of SAF and receive detailed insight into their Scope 3 air freight emissions via Virgin Atlantic’s air freight carbon calculator which provides powerful insights, enabling them to take action on their carbon footprint. DB Schenker was the first to participate in the scheme with the purchase of over several thousand tonnes of Scope 3 emissions reductions.
To further support the use of SAF, in November we plan to operate the world’s first 100 per cent SAF transatlantic flight to pave the way for greater SAF use and shine a light on the effort needed by the entire value chain to deliver the scale-up required to meet our goals.
If we can make it, we can fly it and it’s through radical collaboration across our industry that we’ll see the changes to supply and uptake required to meet our sustainability targets. No one organisation can do this alone and that’s why we truly value the customers working with us on the SAF programme to support this.
This feature was first published in Air Cargo Management – November/December 2023. To read the magazine in full, click here.
