Jet2 announces Sustainable Aviation Fuel trial at Bristol Airport
Jet2, which first launched from Bristol Airport in 2021, has this week announced that it has purchased “over 300 tonnes” of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from Q8Aviation for use on flights departing the airport in 2024. The Leeds-Bradford based carrier claims that the SAF it has acquired provides up to a 70% reduction in emissions when compared to traditional kerosene-based aviation fuels, with an unspecified “number of departing flights from Bristol Airport” due to be fuelled with a 1% blend of SAF.
The announcement, which comes almost a year ahead of the UK Government’s 2025 SAF mandate, will allow Jet2 to prepare for upcoming regulations which will stipulate that at least 10% of jet fuel should comprise of SAF by 2030. Jet2’s Chief Executive, Steve Heapy, said that, “Travel and tourism is a force for good and, like all industries, we know how critical it is to mitigate our climate impacts. Like many, we see SAF as essential in helping the industry do this, which is why we are using a SAF blend at Bristol Airport in 2024 so that we can realise its benefits and prepare our operation for what we anticipate will be more and more SAF uptake.”
Jet2 has already made investments into a new SAF plant to be constructed in England’s North West, which is estimated to provide up to 200 million litres of SAF to the carrier once fully operational. Additionally, the carrier has placed firm orders for 98 more sustainable Airbus A320neo family aircraft, with options which could extend to 146 airframes. The first such aircraft was delivered in Spring 2023.
Heapy did, however, go on to say that “Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go to unlock the huge potential of a UK SAF industry. Without more supplies of UK SAF and greater support to incentivise its uptake and reduce its cost, our industry and UK holidaymakers are at a disadvantage. This is too much of an important opportunity to miss, as such an industry could provide 20,000 jobs and £3bn in economic activity by 2035. The UK Government must implement the price revenue mechanism earlier than the current timeline of 2026 which means we can secure investor confidence, build the UK SAF plants that we need, and turbocharge the UK SAF industry.”
Cianan Kelly entered the sphere of aviation journalism two years ago with his debut publication, Connecting the UK, which was met with acclaim by enthusiasts and industry professionals alike. He joined Fresh Aviation in late 2022 with the aim of contributing to high-quality aviation press and research, with a focus on sustainability and the regional aviation sector.
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