China Airlines signs MOU on sustainable aviation fuel with Morrison Express

Photo: China Airlines

China Airlines, the Taiwan-based Airlines, announced July 31 the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) with Morrison Express.

The signing of the MOU by Eddy Liu, the senior vice president of China Airlines, and Vincent Kao, the corporate vice president of Morrison Express, on behalf of their respective companies marked the first time a Taiwanese carrier has partnered with a corporate client on the use of SAF.

The move also heralds an all-new business model for domestic industries.

The sharing of carbon reductions between China Airlines and clients will reduce both the direct carbon emissions from air transport and also effectively reduce the carbon footprint from transporting passengers and cargo.

More importantly, China Airlines pointed out that contributing to the sustainability of the entire airline industry will help everyone work together to achieve the net-zero carbon-emissions goal by 2050.

“China Airlines is the industry leader with regards to promoting the use of SAF, pioneering its use on ferry flights for new aircraft deliveries in 2017,” the airline said.

The first Taiwanese passenger-carrying flight fueled by SAF was operated in 2023.

This year, China Airlines launched the SAF-partnership program for upstream and downstream vendors as well as customers.

The program aims to realize a sustainable supply chain by promoting energy transition and development of low-carbon transportation in the Taiwanese airline industry.

Morrison Express, a leading global freight forwarder headquartered in Taiwan, became the first company to join the program and support the use of SAF by the China Airlines freighter fleet.

“Morrison Express’ commitment to formulating a corporate-sustainability roadmap that provides its customers with green-logistics solutions is perfectly aligned with China Airlines’ ESG philosophy,” China Airlines stated.

The SAF used for the new partnership produces 80 percent less carbon emissions than conventional fuel, a percentage that should encourage even more companies to join the program and establish the foundations for ESG sustainability.

China Airlines said it is a longtime promoter of sustainability.

“Many ecofriendly initiatives have already been implemented in cargo operations including the introduction and promotion of e-Cargo services, the use of ecofriendly recycled poly-sheets for stacking pallets to protect both cargo and the environment, apron operations are now computerized and stored on PDA mobile devices to cut paper consumption and loading errors, and electric tractors are also used for airside operations to reduce waste and carbon emissions,” the airline stated.

China Airlines has previously won the Best Sustainable Innovation Cargo award during the SkyTeam’s sustainable-flight challenge.

In the future, the carrier said it will continue to examine and optimize carbon-reduction targets and pathways in order to become one of the top sustainable enterprises in Taiwan.