Air France-KLM Carries Out its First Long-haul Flight Powered By Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Air France-KLM, along with Total, Groupe ADP and Airbus, recently carried out the first long-haul flight powered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) produced in France.

The flight took off from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and reached Montreal with its tanks filled for the first time with sustainable aviation fuel produced in Total’s French plants.

The flight was a tangible result of the four groups’ shared ambition to decarbonize air transportation and develop a SAF supply chain in France – a prerequisite for the generalization of their use in French airports.

“For many years, the Air France-KLM Group has been committed to reducing its environmental footprint. Together with the renewal of our fleet, sustainable aviation fuels constitute our main lever in the medium-term for reducing our CO2 emissions per passenger/km by half by 2030,” said Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM.

No modifications to storage and distribution infrastructure, aircraft or engines are required to incorporate biofuels. Their gradual introduction worldwide should significantly reduce CO2 emissions from air transportation, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

 100% French SAF

The biofuel used for the flight was made from waste and residue sourced from the circular economy. Total produced the SAF from used cooking oil at its La Mède biorefinery in southern France and at its Oudalle factory near Le Havre, without using any virgin plant-based oil.

Βy developing and supporting France’s first industrial SAF production, Air France-KLM, Total, ADP Group and Airbus are paving the way for France to drive innovation in the energy and environmental transition.

French legislation calls for aircraft to use at least 1 percent SAF by 2022 for all flights originating in France, ahead of the European ambition scheduled to gradually ramp up to 2 percent by 2025 and 5 percent by 2030, as part of the European Green Deal.

To meet these requirements, Total will also produce SAF at its Grandpuits zero-crude platform near Paris starting in 2024.