Ural Airlines becomes a member of the Eurasian SAF Alliance

SVERDLOVSK REGION 

 

Ural Airlines has joined the Eurasian SAF Alliance, Russia's first association of developers and manufacturers of aviation fuel with a minimum carbon footprint. It includes Gazprom Neft, Airbus aerospace corporation, key players in the aviation industry and research institutes. RusBusinessNews reports that the Alliance's work is aimed at the certification of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) in Russia.

 

It is planned to have the first flight on "green" fuel by 2024. The research will be carried out by the Gazprom Neft Industrial Innovation Technology Center in Saint Petersburg. The pilot batches of SAF will be produced by Moscow and Omsk refineries of Gazprom Neft.

 

"After joining the Alliance, we plan to start SAF testing as part of our flights abroad by coordinated efforts any day soon. Taking into account Gazprom Neft's efforts to produce low-carbon fuel in Moscow and Omsk, it is quite likely that the first fuelling at Russian airports may already be made before 2024," Matvey Kolotursky, Deputy General Director – Director of Economics for Ural Airlines, said.

 

Julien Franiatte, the head of Airbus Russia, stressed that Airbus's decarbonisation strategy also includes SAF. All the corporation's aircraft are certified for flights with 50% SAF fuel mixture. By the end of the decade, the indicator is going to increase to 100%. As a result, CO2 emissions will be reduced by 80%.

 

Ural Airlines is one of the Russian leading airlines in terms of passenger traffic. In 11 months of 2021, the company has transported more than 8.6 million passengers. Ural Airline’s fleet consists of 52 Airbus aircraft (3 A320neo, 6 A321neo, 24 A320, 14 A321, and 5 A319).