SWISS has announced significant progress in its individual route – within the wider Lufthansa Group – towards net zero, with a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) procurement deal with Metafuels, a Zurich-based alternative fuels developer.
Jens Fehlinger, CEO of SWISS, said: “As an airline, we are doing everything within our power to actively drive the transformation of aviation forward. At the same time, it is clear that achieving our goals will now require industrial-scale production. Sustainable fuels must become available much faster, at affordable prices and in significantly larger quantities in the future.
“Future availability of sustainable fuels at sufficient scale will only be possible if investments in technologies and partnerships are made today. That is exactly what we are doing with Metafuels.
“We do not want to wait on the sidelines, but actively contribute to making synthetic fuels market-ready and scalable. At the same time, this partnership helps secure long-term access to these solutions. The fact that we are taking this step together with a Swiss company sends a strong signal for us.”
Metafuels turns sustainable methanol – which is produced from renewable energy, carbon dioxide and water – into SAF.
The Swiss company is developing its first commercial SAF production plant in Rotterdam.
“This agreement with SWISS and the Lufthansa Group is both a milestone for us and a clear affirmation of the role that synthetic SAF will play in the future of aviation,” said Saurabh Kapoor, CEO of Metafuels.
“We are united with SWISS in our shared objective of paving a viable and scalable way to providing lower-emission air travel. With both rising demand projected and tighter regulatory provisions ahead, synthetic fuels will only gain in importance and we’re convinced Switzerland has a key role to play in all these developments.”