Aviation technology group SITA has expanded a partnership with the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) to develop a planning tool which helps airlines reduce aircraft fuel consumption, emissions and operating costs, and more easily comply with complex and increasing environmental regulations. SITA Eco Mission was developed over a year through collaboration with AACO and three of its member airlines to streamline collection and assessment of information which carriers need to report as part of their environmental compliance obligations. Abdul Wahab Teffaha, AACO’s Secretary General, said the product had grown from a need for airlines to manage increasingly complex sustainability requirements, while also providing transparency to both regulators and customers.

“This is a step in the right direction in the journey of airlines’ quest to deliver on their environmental sustainability objectives,” he said.

Added SITA CEO David Lavorel: “As we face unprecedented environmental challenges, achieving sustainability in aviation demands more than compliance. It calls for a visionary approach.”   

The extended collaboration between Geneva-based SITA and AACO, which represents 37 airlines, began late last year when the two signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop a prototype of a data-driven system enabling carriers to simplify and automate reporting processes to meet their environmental compliance obligations.

The new system was also required to help cut the costs of meeting sustainability requirements, while enabling airlines to plan more efficient operations with lower emissions.

The resulting product, SITA Eco Mission, is a ground-based platform that collects data including flight schedules and fuel information from airlines’ internal systems and other information such as commodity prices and regulatory updates from a wide range of external sources.

The information is then consolidated, assessed and optimised by SITA, and delivered as data-backed insights to the relevant key departments of customer carriers to assist them in meeting their efficiency, financial and sustainability targets.

“The aviation industry remains at a critical crossroads as it works to reduce its carbon footprint and meet global sustainability targets, all while navigating increasing regulatory pressure,” said SITA.

“As the aviation industry adapts to increasingly complex regulations such as the European Union’s ReFuelEU Aviation mandate and ICAO’s CORSIA, airlines must balance emissions reduction with cost management.

“The continued partnership between SITA and AACO is focused on delivering the data-driven solution needed to simplify and automate compliance and reporting, streamline data collection and analysis, reduce the costs associated with becoming more environmentally friendly and help airlines plan their future operations so that they can meet their cost and emission targets.

“More so, the solution will support airlines in moving beyond a tactical, reactive approach, helping with smarter strategic environmental management across three key airline functions – Compliance; Strategy and Finance; and Flight Operations.”

During the past year, SITA collaborated with three AACO member airlines, which it did not identify, working with members of these functions to jointly chart what was required to navigate complicated regulations governing sustainable operations.

SITA then took the airlines’ feedback and worked with a technology user experience team to develop proof of concept for the Eco Mission product, which was taken back to the airlines for feedback and further refinement over several months.

The new planning tool has now been formally launched, and SITA expects global deployment from next year, when the EU will require all jet fuel provided at its airports to include at least a 2% blend of sustainable aviation fuel.

AACO’s Teffaha said the work performed by SITA and his member airlines had delivered a solution “invaluable not only to AACO airlines but also to the airlines of the world. This is a step in the right direction in the journey of airlines’ quest to deliver on their environmental sustainability objectives.”

Added Lavorel: “Together with AACO, we are advancing a solution that tackles these challenges directly, paving the way for a fresh, practical approach to environmental responsibility that moves the industry closer to its goals.”

Meanwhile, key AACO member Qatar Airways has strengthened its sustainability partnership with Brisbane-based Virgin Australia, a commercial ally of which it has announced plans to acquire a 25% stake, subject to regulatory approval.

The airlines have signed a MoU to expand their partnership, enabling them to collaborate on advancing sustainable aviation fuel and low carbon aviation fuel in Australia through measures including exploring certification, production and commercial use of the products.

“This MoU not only further strengthens the strategic partnership between Qatar Airways Group and Virgin Australia, but also cements the shared commitment towards achieving our common objectives in the area of sustainability,” said Qatar’s SVP Aeropolitical and Corporate Affairs, Fathi Atti.

Editor’s note: AACO Secretary General Abdul Wahab Teffaha and Igor Dimnik, VP Product, SITA will be speaking at Aviation Carbon 2024 in London on November 25/26.

Photo: Qatar Airways has expanded its sustainability partnership with Virgin Australia

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

• Linkedin

The Australian government has accelerated plans to decarbonise the nation’s air transport sector, formally launching the Australian Jet Zero Council and also announcing a AUD$30 million ($20m) funding programme to support local production of sustainable aviation fuels. The Jet Zero Council will focus on end-to-end development of SAF, from production to distribution, and additional measures to reduce emissions and increase aviation fuel security. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will coordinate the SAF funding initiative, which specifies new fuels must be produced using locally-sourced renewable feedstocks. Power-to-liquids and e-fuel pathways are specifically excluded from the programme. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia and Boeing have formed a new sustainability partnership to push for the development of an Australian SAF industry.

“For a country so reliant on aviation for passenger and freight transport it’s essential that we find ways to reduce emissions from this critical sector,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller. “With abundant agriculture, waste and residue resources, Australia has the potential to support a thriving domestic biofuel industry.”

The two initiatives are in response to strong lobbying of the current and previous governments by the aviation industry to help kickstart local production of renewable aviation fuel and the use of domestically-abundant feedstocks, much of which are currently exported for offshore production of renewable fuels.

They also follow commitments by both Qantas and Regional Express (REX) to invest in sustainable aviation ventures, and a partnership between Virgin Australia and Boeing to help advance SAF production.

The 14-member Jet Zero Council includes representatives of the three airlines, plus Airbus and Boeing, Brisbane Airport, the Regional Aviation Association of Australia, the Department of Defence and the fuel industry, plus federal government finance, investment, research and development agencies.

The body will be chaired by Catherine King, the federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, and modelled on the UK’s Jet Zero Council. As well as driving industry efforts to decarbonise aviation, the new council’s work will complement the government’s Aviation White Paper, currently being developed to guide the industry’s next phase of growth and development.

The funding initiative announced by ARENA, which is also one of the founding members of the Jet Zero Council, is offering funding of between AUD $1 million ($670,000) and $30 million ($20m) for commercial or pre-commercial SAF production, focused on engineering feasibility and project development activities or supporting pilot scale demonstrations.

The agency said it would also seek proposals with “novel and scalable approaches across the supply chain”, including innovation in feedstock supply such as aggregation or business models which supported domestic production of SAF.

ARENA’s Miller said the initiative served the dual purpose of leveraging natural advantages to reduce aviation’s emissions and maximising the economic opportunities of feedstock and fuel development. The agency’s Bioenergy Roadmap identified SAF produced from renewable biomass could produce up to 19% of Australia’s aviation sector fuel needs by 2030, as part of a broader AUD $10 billion contribution of bioenergy projects to the national GDP.

“Although Australia currently lacks local production of SAF, it possesses significant potential in renewable feedstocks that could be harnessed to meet both domestic and global SAF supply needs,” ARENA explained.

“Proposals will be required to demonstrate that they use or process and eligible renewable feedstock and production pathway. Power-to-liquid or e-fuel production pathways are not supported under the funding initiative.”

The formation of the Jet Zero Council and the announcement by ARENA of the sustainable aviation funding programme closely follow a AUD$400 million ($267m) commitment by Qantas to establish a dedicated investment vehicle to support sustainable projects and technologies – a fund which the company claims to be the largest created by any airline.

The Qantas Group, which includes Qantas International, Qantas Domestic, Qantas Freight and the low-cost carrier Jetstar, has long called for a local SAF production industry, and last year partnered with ANZ Bank and Japanese energy group Inpex Corporation in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt Region in a project to evaluate both reforestation and decarbonisation using drought-resilient native trees, and the use of native biomass crops and agricultural waste residues as feedstocks for renewable biofuels. The first planting of native trees is expected to occur this year.

Together with Airbus and the Queensland state government, Qantas is also investing in a new alcohol-to-jet production facility planned by the bioenergy company Jet Zero Australia and the US-based energy technology group LanzaJet, which will process locally-sourced agricultural waste including sugarcane to produce up to 100 million litres of SAF per year.   

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia and Boeing have committed to a new sustainability partnership through which they will “prioritise joint advocacy” for the development of an Australian SAF industry, and work together to advance carbon offsets in Australia that support regional development, particularly in indigenous communities. Their commitment came as the airline added the first of eight new Boeing 737 MAX8 jets to its fleet, which was part-powered by a 30% blend of SAF on its delivery flight to Australia.

Photo: Virgin Australia

The Asia-Pacific region, the world’s largest combined air transport market, has edged closer to lower carbon air services with significant initiatives announced in two countries, Singapore and New Zealand, reports Tony Harrington. Commencing in 2022, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will conduct a 12-month trial of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) at Changi International Airport with Singapore Airlines and state-owned investment company Temasek. It will also partner with Airbus on a two-year feasibility study into production, infrastructure and procedures for hydrogen-powered aircraft operations. In New Zealand, a partnership has been formed between Finnish renewable fuels company Neste and Wellington-based fuel corporation Z Energy to import sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, in line with the government’s commitment to transition to a low-carbon economy. Air New Zealand and Airbus have also announced a partnership to investigate how hydrogen propulsion could be applied to the airline’s domestic operations.

Although Asia-Pacific accounts for 38% of global air journeys, it lags Europe and the US in progressing sustainable aviation. In a post-COP26 communique, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), which represents 14 operators, said commercialisation of SAF was critical to reducing aviation’s emissions and government support was essential for the industry to reach net zero by 2050, which AAPA members committed to in September.

“Facilities for producing SAF are severely lacking in Asia-Pacific compared to other regions,” said AAPA’s Director General, Subhas Menon. “Taxes, onerous regulations and other penalties would only increase the cost of travel without any benefit to the environment. Conversely, government incentives and investment would contribute to the effective development of sustainable fuels and new energy sources to bolster the industry’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”   

In Singapore, CAAS, Singapore Airlines and Temasek have issued a Request for Proposal, through which select, unnamed producers and suppliers have been invited to develop and implement plans to provide blended SAF. The pilot programme follows a study by the Singapore government and key industry participants to examine the operational and commercial viability of SAF at Changi Airport, one of the biggest and busiest air transport hubs in the region.

CAAS Director-General Han Kok Juan said sustainability was a key priority for the aviation industry as it recovered from the pandemic and SAF a critical enabler of decarbonisation. “The pilot, which will incorporate the blending of neat SAF in local facilities, certification of blended SAF and delivery to Changi Airport, is a significant step to operationally validate SAF integration options in Singapore. It will provide insights on end-to-end cost components, potential pricing structures for cost recovery and support future policy considerations for SAF deployment,” he said. The announcement of the Singapore SAF trial coincided with the release at the COP26 summit of the SAF Policy Toolkit, developed by the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow SAF Ambassador’s Group, of which Singapore is a member (see article).

On the study with Airbus that will look at demand for and production of alternative aviation fuels, Han said recovery from Covid-19 “will not be a return to business-as-usual but an opportunity to rebuild an aviation sector that is more sustainable. It is not a question of whether, but of how, to make flying greener and developing concrete pathways to achieve that goal while ensuring that air travel is still accessible.”

Sabine Klauke, Chief Technical Officer, Airbus, added: “The decarbonisation of our industry requires a combination of approaches, hydrogen being one of them, and will need unprecedented cross-sector collaboration to create the new aviation infrastructure ecosystem. We are therefore pleased to have CAAS as a partner, as we embark on this exciting journey.”

The CAAS-Airbus partnership initially will consider the technical feasibility of an airport hydrogen hub and infrastructure to support operations by hydrogen-powered aircraft, including the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen, ground services for aircraft, logistical equipment and refuelling systems. In addition to provision of hydrogen, the study will consider how alternative fuels could be integrated into airport developments, either from the start or progressively as technology evolved.

In New Zealand, Z Energy has partnered with Neste to import sustainable fuels. Earlier this year, as part of a broader decarbonisation strategy, the government announced it was considering SAF blending mandates, a policy already being rolled out in Europe to boost demand for SAF to levels that supported commercial production. Z Energy is a major provider of fuel in New Zealand, supplying airlines, shipping, road transport and industry. It owns and operates pipelines, terminals and bulk storage infrastructure, supplies over 200 auto fuel retailers, and owns 15.4% of Refining NZ, the country’s only oil refinery. Together with Air New Zealand, Z Energy is a strong advocate of local SAF production.

Sami Jauhiainen, Neste’s VP Business Development, Renewable Aviation, said collaboration with Z Energy was designed to grow the availability of SAF and renewable diesel in New Zealand, and to support the country’s emission reduction targets. “While the market for SAF is today more mature in Europe and North America, where regulatory frameworks create a growing market, we expect the Asia-Pacific region to follow on that path sooner rather than later,” said Jauhiainen, who in January will transfer to Singapore to take up the new role of VP Asia Pacific for Neste Renewable Aviation. The company has also announced it will open an Asia-Pacific Research and Development Centre in Singapore, to undertake advanced analytical and raw material research with partners in Singapore and across the APAC region.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has expressed confidence investors and global SAF providers would also focus on Australia, once appropriate policy settings were in place. She told the recent IATA SAF Symposium: “We need government support to ensure the seed capital that’s needed and the funding to get up to scale is there and available, along with the tax offsets needed to motivate that investment cycle. We’re doing our bit with the Australian government to find solutions to get the ball rolling.

“We see great things happening in the US, and we’re really buoyed by that because we think some of the first mover investments that have been made elsewhere in the world will also increase the odds of success in Australia. Then the costs of experimentation and innovation are a bit lower and we can partner with others to make headway more quickly that we’d otherwise be able to do. We have to do that with support from other stakeholders, including government.

“When that curve starts to move in the right direction, all those first movers are going to be looking at the opportunities that exist globally but haven’t yet been delivered. I would fully expect that we would have companies arriving here who want to leverage the technology and capabilities that they have elsewhere, knowing that they have got a ready market for the output and hungry to just take in the opportunity.”

Earlier this year, Virgin’s rival Qantas announced a partnership with BP to explore opportunities to establish a SAF industry in Australia.

“Even though we have been flying a lot less, we’ve actually seen the same proportion of customers choosing to offset their domestic travel during the pandemic – showing that this issue remains top of mind for people,” said Andrew Parker, Qantas Group Executive Government, Industry and Sustainability. “Airlines globally have a responsibility to cut emissions and combat climate change, particularly once travel demand starts to return. The Qantas Group has set some ambitious targets to be net carbon neutral by 2050, and while offsetting emissions is a big part of that in the next few years, longer term initiatives like building a SAF sector in Australia are key.”

Photo: Singapore’s Changi Airport (© Changi Airport Group)

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