Budget carrier Cebu Pacific and Neste, the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) exploring the supply and purchase of sustainable aviation fuel in Asia Pacific.
The Gokongwei-led airline’s partnership with Neste signifies its steadfast commitment to minimizing its environmental impact and providing more sustainable travel for its passengers.
This aligns with the global aviation industry’s long-term aspirational goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Carbon emissions are a pressing concern in the aviation industry. To this end, Cebu Pacific has laid out initiatives to address our emissions footprint, with a primary focus on integrating SAF in its operations. This will consequently minimize the environmental impact generated from our flights,” Alex Reyes, chief strategy officer at Cebu Pacific, said.
SAF, an alternative fuel made from sustainable feedstock, has potential to reduce carbon emissions of air travel by up to 80 percent over the fuel’s life cycle compared to using conventional jet fuel.
“Sustainable aviation fuel is a readily available solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from air travel,” Sami Jauhiainen, acting executive vice president of the Renewable Aviation business unit at Neste said.
“We are proud that we are going to support Cebu Pacific’s commitment to reduce their environmental impact by using our Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and we look forward to build the cooperation with CEB in the future,” he added.
MY SAF is made from 100 percent renewable waste and residue raw materials such as used cooking oil and animal fat waste. It is manufactured in refineries in Finland and in Singapore in this instance.
In September 2022, the airline operated its first passenger flight powered by blended SAF from Singapore to Manila. This achievement made CEB the first low-cost carrier in Southeast Asia and the first Philippine airline to incorporate SAF in its commercial operations.
Building on this success, the airline announced another upcoming SAF-powered commercial flight from Narita (Tokyo) to Manila beginning 25 October this year.
Cebu Pacific aims to transition to an all-NEO fleet by 2028 and will incorporate the use of blended SAF for the entire commercial network by 2030.
