Emirates has announced that it has entered an agreement with Shell Aviation for the supply of over 300,000 gallons of blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for use at the airline’s hub in Dubai International Airport (DXB).
According to the airline, this will be the first time that SAF will be supplied through the DXB airport fuelling system. The first SAF delivery under the agreement is expected to commence before the end of 2023.
Under the agreement, Emirates will track the delivery of SAF and usage data through the Avelia platform, a blockchain powered book-and-claim solution that provides companies with fully traceable environmental attributes of SAF.
Through Avelia, Emirates will purchase the physical SAF and associated environmental attributes to help decarbonise its Scope 1 related emissions, while Scope 3 environmental attributes associated with the same physical SAF will be purchased by Shell Corporate Travel to help decarbonise its business-related travel.
“We are proud to work in partnership with Shell to make a SAF supply available for Emirates in Dubai for the first time, and to utilize the Avelia platform that provides business travelers the flexibility to align their sustainability targets and reduce their environmental footprint when traveling. We hope that this collaboration develops further to provide an ongoing future supply of SAF in our hub, as there are currently no production facilities for SAF in the UAE,” Tim Clark, Emirates president said in a statement.
Chu Yong-Yi, vice president of Shell Corporate Travel remarked: “This agreement marks a step forward for the aviation industry in the UAE. Enabling SAF to be supplied at DXB for the first time is an important milestone, and a perfect example of how the different parts of the aviation value chain have a role to play in unlocking progress on SAF. We hope that this can act as a springboard for more action on SAF across the aviation industry in the UAE and region, delivering another step forward for our net zero emissions journey.”
The agreement is the latest step taken by Emirates as part of its environmental strategy that focuses on three areas: emissions reduction, responsible consumption and the conservation of wildlife and habitats.