ITA Airways and DB Schenker Italy have signed their first Fly with SAF agreement, launching the airline program, aiming at involving freight forwarders and shippers in the purchasing of SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel), thus contributing to achieve mutual objectives of CO2 emissions’ reduction.
ITA Airways has developed the Fly with SAF program aimed at reducing the environmental impact of its flights. To this end, the increasingly consistent introduction of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in operational standards is essential.
SAF is a biofuel produced from waste materials of various origins and is capable of reducing CO2 emissions by around 80%.
According to ITA Airways, sustainability is a pillar of their business plan, which they aim to pursue in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by achieving ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) objectives and by contributing to the sustainable progress of civil aviation.
Contributing with concrete actions to the decarbonisation of the environment is, in fact, a substantial commitment of ITA Airways’ ‘Sustainability Manifesto’, the airline shared in a statement.
Last month, Vistara operated a wide-body aircraft on a long-haul international route using sustainable aviation fuel, first time for an Indian airline. A blend of 30 per cent SAF and 70 per cent conventional jet fuel was used on a ferry flight between Charleston International Airport, South Carolina to Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, which resulted in the reduction of approximately 1,50,000 pounds of CO2 emissions over the fuel’s life cycle.
The involvement of an ever-increasing number of players in the logistics chain in purchasing and procurement operations is progressively accelerating the use of this innovative fuel, it said, which is currently more expensive and less available than conventional jet fuel.As a leading provider of global logistics and transportation services, DB Schenker shares ITA’s goal of making an increasingly greener and more responsible aviation. The aim behind joining ITA Airways’ FLY with SAF program, it said, is to concretely participate in the procurement of SAF and support the higher cost of ecological fuel, compared to conventional fuel.
In its key markets, DB Schenker engages with its partners to drive sustainable goals.
This collaboration will be fundamental to the development of transportation for all customers, specifically the Fashion ones who require – more and more often – the use of green transports, in accordance with their own sustainability policies, it said.
