JetBlue and Shell Aviation today announced a new collaboration bringing additional supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), targeting commencement of delivery in the first half of 2023.
Within the terms of the agreement, JetBlue is expected to take delivery of 10,000,000 gallons of blended SAF at LAX over the next two years and an option to purchase up to 5,000,000 gallons more in the third year, either at LAX or other airports in JetBlue’s network.
SAF is a type of renewable fuel that exists today that drops directly into existing aircraft and infrastructure with no impact to safety or performance.
SAF can be produced from a wide array of renewable sources such as agricultural wastes and used cooking oils and can lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 80% in its neat form when compared to traditional petroleum-based fuels.
“We’ve long said we need multiple key stakeholders to step up to reach our aggressive emissions reduction goals,” said Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue.
“This deal with Shell is a key signal of the growing engagement of the major fuel producers to begin converting conventional jet fuel to SAF.
“Shell’s involvement, with their expertise in energy markets and logistics, is a validation of the SAF market’s potential and highlights how critical the SAF transition of our hard-to-decarbonize industry is to establishing a more sustainable future of flight.”
Shell has announced its ambition to have 10% of its aviation jet fuel sales as SAF by 2030.
To meet this goal, Shell is building supply chain capabilities to blend, handle and distribute SAF and enable more customers access to SAF, helping to accelerate the pace of decarbonizing the aviation sector.
“It’s terrific to be supporting JetBlue once again in its decarbonization efforts,” commented Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation.
“Like Shell, JetBlue understands that SAF will be the key technology to help decarbonize flight.
“LAX is a critical North American airport hub and we’re delighted to be able to provide JetBlue and corporations on its Sustainable Travel Partners program access to SAF, allowing them to lower their emissions while jointly contributing to investments in SAF.”
Supporting and growing SAF availability is critical to reaching larger airline industry goals and JetBlue’s own goal to reach net zero by 2040, 10 years earlier than industry targets.
This along with JetBlue’s other existing sustainability commitments will apply to the airline’s planned integration of Spirit Airlines into its operation.
JetBlue will continue to do its part to encourage a diverse and competitive SAF market and encourage the build-up of available supply and the economies of scale needed for SAF prices to compete with traditional fuel sources.
“We envision a future of a robust, regular, and diversified supply of SAF delivered all around our network, incrementally replacing conventional fuels and driving down emissions in our operation,” said, Sara Bogdan, director sustainability and ESG, JetBlue.
“We’ve publicly committed to cutting our per-seat emissions in half by 2035, and a viable SAF market at scale is a key component to meet this goal.
“Working with Shell will not only help grow the availability of SAF in the long-term, but also ensure this transition is sustainable from a business perspective, by building the connections and infrastructure to help keep the cost of SAF competitive with traditional fuel.”
JetBlue and Shell will also be working to offer corporate customers additional ways to simultaneously reduce emissions associated with their flying while helping ensure transparency and accountability.
