Japanese sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) joint venture Saffaire Sky Energy has started supplying its SAF to Japan Airlines (JAL). This is the company's first SAF delivery to an airline.
Saffaire is a joint venture launched by Japanese engineering firm JGC, refiner Cosmo Oil and biodiesel producer Revo International. The delivery of SAF to a passenger flight marks a full-fledged launch of a supply chain that enables the continuous mass-production and supply of SAF in Japan, JGC and JAL announced on 1 May.
The JAL plane was fuelled with Saffaire's SAF at Kansai International Airport in western Japan's Osaka, and departed to Shanghai, China, on 1 May. Saffaire will continue to supply SAF to JAL and start supplying SAF to other airlines as well, JGC told Argus.
Saffaire supplied SAF to Japan Air Self-Defense Force in April. It announced plans to start delivery to domestic airlines JAL and All Nippon Airways (ANA), the US' Delta Air Lines, Finland's Finnair, Taiwan's Starlux Airlines and German logistics group DHL Express in the 2025 fiscal year.
JGC also announced a plan on 24 April to start supplying Saffaire's SAF to Taiwan's Eva Air in the 2025 fiscal year.
Saffaire operates Japan's first large-scale SAF plant in Cosmo's Sakai refinery in Osaka, with a production capacity of around 30,000 kilolitres/yr. Saffaire uses used cooking oil (UCO) as feedstock for SAF.
