Air Canada, Airbus launch joint initiative to scale domestic Canadian SAF

Photo: Air Canada

Air Canada, the country’s largest airline and flag carrier, and Airbus, a global leader in aerospace manufacturing with the largest commercial aircraft industrial footprint in Canada, are uniting their shared commitment to aviation decarbonization.

To lead the way in advancing these goals, the two aviation pioneers announced July 20 their intent to establish a jointly funded sustainability co-investment platform.

This agreement states a shared objective to invest up to approximately CAD$13.7 million (USD$10 million) through the platform to support a commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry in Canada.

Both companies are confident that, with a supportive public-policy framework in place, this investment can serve as a catalyst for the broader Canadian SAF ecosystem.

Key focus areas include accelerating a jointly agreed Canadian SAF project toward a final-investment decision (FID).

While Air Canada and Airbus intend to drive this investment, Air Canada said both companies look forward to continuing their constructive collaboration with government partners to establish the right structural frameworks to support SAF production to emerge at scale in Canada.

Their ongoing joint advocacy alongside the Canadian Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition reflects a shared commitment to working with federal and provincial governments.

By aligning industry initiatives with supportive public-policy mechanisms, Air Canada said they can successfully champion domestic SAF production and price competitiveness, with the objective to make renewable fuels available for the Canadian aerospace industry and to preserve affordability of air travel.

“Air Canada is proud to help advance aviation’s energy transition in Canada,” said Valerie Durand, an executive with Air Canada. “Through this joint initiative with Airbus, we are taking meaningful steps toward supporting domestic SAF production, helping corporate customers address the emissions associated with business travel, and contributing to a lower-carbon path for the industry. With continued industry collaboration and a supportive policy environment, we are confident this momentum can accelerate.”

Julie Kitcher, Airbus’ chief sustainability officer, added, “I want to thank Air Canada for this very important joint sustainability initiative. Decarbonizing aviation will require deep industry collaboration and decades of investment in new sources of renewable energy. By launching this co-investment platform and making a long-term commitment to Air Canada’s ‘Leave Less Travel Program,’ we will help to stimulate the production of, and demand for, SAF in Canada. The country has a vast feedstock potential. When combined with a supportive policy framework, it can contribute to the sector’s decarbonization ambitions and create significant economic growth and job creation.”

Complementing this foundational investment, the initiative introduces a vehicle for corporate partners to stimulate domestic SAF demand through Air Canada’s “Leave Less Travel Program.” 

Demonstrating its commitment, Airbus has signed a long-term, five-year “Leave Less Travel Program” agreement.

As part of this parallel corporate travel partnership, which distributes verified SAF environmental attributes to participants, Airbus will purchase SAF environmental attributes associated with over 60,000 liters (15,850 gallons) of SAF for its first allocation.

Through this program, Air Canada will track Airbus’ greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions associated with their corporate travel and remove verified SAF environmental attributes on the company’s behalf.

Although in-sector emissions reductions are not a substitute for direct emissions reductions at the source, this corporate partnership is a key tool in supporting the scaling up of SAF and will allow Airbus to lower lifecycle emissions associated with their employees’ business travel.

The use of renewable fuels, such as SAF, complements Air Canada’s extensive fleet modernization strategy, featuring more fuel-efficient aircraft like the long-range narrow-body Airbus A321XLR and the Canada-built Airbus A220.

Air Canada and Airbus fully support the aviation aspirational climate ambition set by various organizations to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with SAF as a critical component to such pathway.

Beyond the reduction of lifecycle emissions, developing a robust domestic SAF ecosystem could trigger a massive ripple effect across the Canadian economy.

The strategic platform arrives alongside a new macroeconomic study by Airbus and ICF highlighting Canada’s significant potential to lead in aircraft biofuels production.

The study reveals that scaling domestic SAF to meet 40 percent of Canada’s aviation-fuel demand by 2040 could add CAD$32 billion (USD$22.7 billion) to the national gross domestic product (GDP) and create 140,000 jobs across agricultural, forestry and urban regions.

By establishing a solid platform for corporate investment and support, the Air Canada and Airbus partnership serves as an immediate catalyst to support these multibillion-dollar economic returns while advancing the development of a domestic SAF ecosystem.