KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) has today witnessed the successful operation of its inaugural flight using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by partnering with Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) and Neste.
The national carrier said the flight marked the airlines' commitment to leverage on SAF, the cleaner and more viable energy option for regular flights by 2025.
The MH7979 flight operated on the Airbus 330-200 aircraft departed Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at 12:55 pm local time (yesterday) and arrived in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 9 am local time today.
The inaugural flight used a blended mixture of about 38 per cent SAF made from used cooking oil and conventional jet fuel.
MAB said the successful operation was a testament to the supply deal between PetDag's marketing and trading arm in Europe, PETCO Trading (UK) Ltd, Neste, a renewable diesel producer, and SAF refined from waste and residues.
MAB's parent company, Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), had recently partnered with PetDag to explore potential collaborative opportunities that advance sustainability, including the supply and adoption of SAF at KLIA.
The partnership also aimed at strengthening awareness in aviation sustainability through a united communication and advocacy strategy around carbon emission reduction.
MAB did the preparations for the flight with GE Digital's FlightPulse and Fuel Insight software that assisted the flight crew in planning for efficient fuel procedures during the flight.
The data logged during the flight will be processed and analysed to help the operations team better understand the opportunities to operate a more sustainable flight.
MAG group chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said the group is proud to have crossed the significant landmark of operating the first Malaysian flight using SAF, building on the momentum from the airline's net-zero emissions commitment earlier this year.
"Moving forward, we expect SAF to be a key component of our strategy to deliver a more sustainable travel experience for our customers.
"With the completion of today's significant first step, we are committed to working towards having a viable SAF supply chain here in Malaysia.
"We believe the only way we could reach this goal is through strategic collaboration and support from our stakeholders," he said in a statement today.
PetDag managing director and chief executive officer Azrul Osman Rani said today marked a significant milestone in the company's partnership of more than two decades with MAB.
"In line with Petronas' Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 aspiration and our continued efforts to make sustainable energy more accessible, we have been providing cleaner energy solutions including electric vehicle chargers, liquefied natural gas (LNG), solar solutions and other renewable energy," he said.
Azrul said this was supported the PetDag partners and customers in achieving their emissions reduction ambitions.
"With SAF now proven to be a feasible alternative for commercial flights, we are excited to continue making headways in this decarbonisation journey," he added.
Neste executive vice president (renewable aviation) Thorsten Lange said the company was committed to helping aviation with its emission reduction targets.
"We are delighted to cooperate with MAB and PetDag to complete their first SAF powered flight," he said.
Lange said Neste's SAF provided immediate emission reductions and was already available today, playing a pivotal role in decarbonising the aviation industry.
"We continue to scale up our operations and will have the capacity to produce some 1.5 million tons of SAF annually by the end of 2023," he added.
SAF is recognised globally as the most feasible option to reduce aviation emissions in the near term.
Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is produced from sustainably sourced, 100 per cent renewable waste and residue raw materials, such as used cooking oil and animal fat waste.
In its neat form and over the life cycle, Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 per cent compared to fossil jet fuel use.
In line with efforts towards overall decarbonisation and diversifying its product portfolio, PetGas would also venture into the biofuels space through the planned development of a greenfield bio-refinery and co-processing at existing its facilities.
The biorefinery, which is targeted to be ready for start-up (RFSU) in 2025, will be positioned to supply SAF with operational flexibility and produce hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) or renewable diesel.