Aer Lingus welcomes IAG’s sustainable aviation fuel deal with Aemetis to power its flights from San Francisco from 2025
Dublin, Ireland, 2022-Aug-23 — /Travel PR News/ — Following on from news that renewable fuels company Aemetis, Inc. announced today (August 22, 2022) that it has agreed a multi-year agreement with International Airlines Group (IAG) to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to power Aer Lingus and British Airways flights from San Francisco Airport from 2025, Lynne Embleton, Chief Executive Officer at Aer Lingus said:
“As we work towards our commitment of powering 10% of flights using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030, this agreement with Aemetis will see aircraft on our San Francisco route using low carbon biofuels from sustainable wastes.
This summer we have signed two significant SAF deals and a lease agreement for two new Airbus A320neo aircraft. These are all key steps in achieving our lower-carbon future and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
IAG, parent company of both Aer Lingus and British Airways will purchase a total of 78,400 tonnes of SAF over seven years, enough to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 248,000 tonnes (the equivalent of taking over 16,000 cars off the road) across the same time period.
In July, Aer Lingus signed another SAF agreement with Gevo, Inc., a US-based renewable fuels producer. The agreement will see the purchase of 19,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel per year for five years, powering flights from Los Angeles.
Aer Lingus is also investing in new generation and more fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Airbus A320neo and A32l neo LR.
In June, Aer Lingus signed a lease agreement for two new Airbus A320neo aircraft which will see this new generation aircraft joining Aer Lingus’ fleet for the very first time. The Airbus A320neo delivers up to 20% reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions and close to 50% reduction in noise footprint when compared to the previous generation aircraft, A320ceo.
Notes to Editor
Sustainability at Aer Lingus
As part of IAG, Aer Lingus has pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and has committed to powering 10% of its flights using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030.
Other milestones within Aer Lingus’ sustainability programme include:
- IEnvA Certification – Aer Lingus was awarded Stage 1 IEnvA certification in June 2021. This is an environmental management and evaluation system designed to independently assess and improve the environmental performance of an airline. Aer Lingus has begun its journey to achieving IEnvA Stage 2;
- Waste Reduction –
- In March this year Aer Lingus replaced plastic cutlery packs with packs made from birch wood, a sustainable material, resulting in a reduction of almost 23 tonnes of single use plastics per year;
- A digital alternative to newspapers and magazines was introduced onboard resulting in a saving of 14 tonnes of paper per year;
- Operational Fuel Efficiencies –
- Reducing fuel burn during take-off and landing saves 8.6 kg of fuel per flight on take-off and up to 5.4 kg of fuel per flight on landing, based on normal flight conditions; example of this is lights being turned off and retracted after take-off and landing;
- Mood Lighting on board – compared to traditional lighting on board, mood lighting provides a fleet weight reduction of 1,561kg;
- Electric Vehicles – Aer Lingus’ Ground Operations team at Dublin Airport has introduced 83 electric vehicles into the ground fleet reducing dependence on fossil fuel reliant diesel and petrol vehicles.
Source: Aer Lingus
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