Teesside Airport has gone one step ahead in sustainability and become the UK’s first airport to partner with Air France-KLM for the Green Aviation Fuel Programme to boost the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The deal will focus on accelerating the production, adoption and usage of SAF.
The programme will help Air France-KLM to work towards its decarbonization goals by transitioning from traditional fuels and reducing the CO2 footprint of air travel. Along with the airline the programme will also support Teesside’s plans to ensure the airport’s buildings and infrastructure hit Net Zero before the decade, making Teesside the UK’s first Net Zero airport
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “By joining forces with Air France-KLM, Teesside has further dedicated itself to driving the development and uptake of SAF for the good of the sector and the world. This is just one initiative helping to drive forward our low carbon ambitions for both the airport and region. Separately to this programme, multimillion-pound research and development into SAF is taking place on our doorstep.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us to decarbonise our airport from top to bottom, not just in its day-to-day operations but also in its flights – but with initiatives like this I’ve no doubt we can succeed,” said Teesside Airport’s Managing Director Phil Forster
Fahmi Mahjoub, General Manager of Air France-KLM (UK & Ireland), said: “This is a major step forward in addressing our sustainability challenge as an aviation company by partnering with a UK airport to help the environment. Today marks the start of a new level of cooperation across the industry and we hope that this news helps spread the awareness in the UK and that more companies will join us in making SAF more readily available around the globe.”
