JetBlue has released plans to speed up its transition to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) with an offtake agreement with SG Preston, a leading bioenergy developer. With the addition of the SG Preston agreement to its previous SAF commitments, JetBlue is well ahead of pace on its target to convert 10% of its total fuel usage to SAF on a blended basis by 2030. The airline will reach nearly 8% SAF usage by the end of 2023 when delivery of SAF under this agreement is expected. JetBlue is doubling its previous SAF commitment with SG Preston, which was first announced in 2016.
JetBlue’s agreement with SG Preston also marks a major milestone for SAF in New York’s airports. This deal is expected to bring the first large-scale volume of domestically produced SAF for a commercial airline to New York’s metropolitan airports. JetBlue will convert 30% of its fuel buy across John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) from traditional Jet-A fuel to SAF (*), which is expected to reduce emissions by an estimated 80% per gallon of neat SAF, compared to traditional petroleum-based fuels.
Targeting a start in 2023 and continuing over a ten-year period, SG Preston will deliver at least 670 million gallons of blended SAF to JetBlue to fuel its flight operations at JFK, LGA and EWR, helping JetBlue avoid approximately 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. JetBlue expects to invest more than US$1 billion in purchasing SAF over the term of this agreement, at a price competitive to traditional Jet-A fuel, with no expected material impact to the airline’s total fuel costs. This marks the largest-ever announced near-term SAF deal for delivery in the Northeast and will be become the airline’s largest single jet fuel contract.
* The 30% value is based on JetBlue’s 2019 fuel usage across JFK, EWR, and LGA. The actual percentage may vary by the date of delivery, based on variations in JetBlue’s future fuel requirements.
