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Tue 11 Dec 2018 – A unique airline/airport cooperation has been agreed that will see all domestic flights from Kalmar to Stockholm meet a 5% biofuel target in 2019. Under the agreement, airlines SAS and BRA will pay for 50% of the additional cost of the biofuel, while Kalmar Öland Airport will secure funding for the remaining half. The approximate 80 tonnes of biofuel required for the flight services will be supplied by fuel supplier Air BP. Together with its owner, the Kalmar Municipality, the airport says it has been working actively for many years to create the funding conditions for the additional cost premium of biofuel, with a long-term goal of having fossil-free aviation from Kalmar. BRA has been offering its passengers the option to pay an extra fee per flight to enable the regional carrier to fly on biofuel. SAS has pledged to use renewable fuel on all domestic flights by 2030.
The first biofuel flights between Kalmar, located in south-east Sweden, and Stockholm took place in 2017 during a local sustainability week. Since then the airport and the municipality have been establishing funding for aviation biofuels on a more permanent basis and together with a number of local companies, took the decision that all their own business travel on flights from Kalmar should be powered by biofuel.
The procurement of aviation biofuel, equivalent to three years’ supply, for the municipality took place this autumn. Coinciding with a large delivery of aviation biofuel, representatives from the various organisations met at the airport to discuss cooperation, challenges and the industry’s transition to sustainable fuels.
“The cooperation between these organisations is proof that with combined strength you can make things happen when you look at the bigger picture rather than just individual benefit,” said Ronny Lindberg, Managing Director of Kalmar Öland Airport, which handles around 250,000 passengers a year.
Added Anna Soltorp, Head of Sustainability at BRA: “For us, access to biofuel is essential to successfully achieve fossil-free domestic air travel in the future. We need large-scale, continuous production nearby in order to have access to sustainably-produced biofuel at reasonable pricing.”
BRA, formerly known as Braathens Regional Airways, undertook its first biofuel flight in February 2017 on a journey from Stockholm Bromma to Umeå in northern Sweden using a fuel sourced from used cooking oil and supplied by Air BP (see article).
“Air BP is delighted to be able to support our client airlines and airports to reduce the environmental impact of aviation,” said Thorbjörn Larsson, General Manager of Air BP Nordics. “This is an important first step that has been taken for all passengers between Kalmar and Stockholm to reduce their emissions.”
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