British Airways and Phillips 66 Agree First-Ever UK-Produced Sustainable Aviation Fuel Supply

British Airways will become the first airline in the world to use sustainable aviation fuel produced in the UK after signing a multi-year agreement with Phillips 66 Limited.

The SAF will be produced at scale for the first time in the UK at the Phillips 66 Humber Refinery near Immingham and will be supplied to British Airways to power a number of its flights from early 2022.

The supply agreement between British Airways and Phillips 66 Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company Phillips 66, advances both companies’ commitments to a lower-carbon future. The airline, which is driving to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, will purchase enough sustainable fuel to reduce lifecycle CO₂ emissions by almost 100,000 tonnes, the equivalent of powering 700 net zero CO₂ emissions flights between London and New York on its fuel-efficient Boeing 787 aircraft.

The SAF will be produced from sustainable waste feedstock at the Humber Refinery, which will deliver its SAF supply to British Airways via existing pipeline infrastructure that feeds directly into UK airports.

Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive, said:

“This agreement marks another important step on our journey to net zero carbon emissions and forms part of our commitment, as part of International Airlines Group, to power 10% of flights with SAF by 2030.

“The UK has the resources and capabilities to be a global leader in the development of SAF and scaling up the production of SAF requires a truly collaborative approach between industry and government.

“We are excited to develop our relationship with Phillips 66 Limited further with a view to growing production capacity and using a wider range of sustainable waste feedstocks to supply our future flights. The development of sustainable aviation fuel is a major focus for us and forms part of our commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a series of short-, medium- and long-term initiatives.”

The airline’s parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), is investing $400 million over the next 20 years into the development of SAF and British Airways has existing partnerships with a number of technology and fuel companies to develop SAF plants and purchase the fuel. SAF can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by over 80% compared to the traditional jet fuel it replaces.