United Airlines (United) has announced that it will begin using a blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on departing flights from San Francisco International Airport and is planning to use a SAF blend later this year at London Heathrow Airport, which could put the airline on track to use approximately ten million gallons in 2023, nearly three-times more than in 2022 and close to ten-times more than in 2019.
“It’s remarkable to see that in just a few years United has exponentially increased its SAF use,” said United Chief Sustainability Officer Lauren Riley. “While ten-million gallons of SAF in 2023 represents a fraction of what we need, we have also made big investments in producers that are using everything from ethanol to algae, to CO2, to help increase our available future supply. We believe these investments, along with our continued collaboration with policymakers, cross-industry businesses and other airlines will help us scale this brand-new industry to achieve comparable success to solar and wind.”
To date, United has invested in the future production of over five billion gallons of SAF. United has used SAF blends at Los Angeles International Airport since 2016 and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam since 2022 and continues to use SAF at those airports in 2023.
The SAF deliveries commenced at San Francisco Airport in April, with United receiving 1.5 million gallons of SAF for departing flights, the remainder of United’s SAF supply will be used at Los Angeles International Airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. London Heathrow Airport is expected to begin receiving deliveries of SAF later in 2023. Once the SAF is delivered to London Heathrow, it will mark the first time United would participate in London Heathrow’s SAF incentive programme.
The SAF used on United’s flights will be paid for in part through the company’s Eco-Skies AllianceSM, an innovative programme designed for participating companies to work together to share the “green premium” or the cost associated with purchasing lower-emission fuels. Participating in United’s Eco-Skies Alliance provides its corporate customers with the opportunity to build transparency and enable true, certified SAF emissions reductions associated with travel of people or goods on United flights.
