Total to supply Air France-KLM 265 million gallons of SAF over next 10 years

Photo: Air France-KLM

Total Energies and Air France-KLM signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Dec. 5 for the delivery of more than 265 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by Total Energies to Air France-KLM Group airlines over a 10-year period, starting next year.

This SAF will be produced by Total Energies at its biorefineries. It will be made available to Air France-KLM Group’s airlines, mainly for flights departing from France (in accordance with French legislation) and the Netherlands.

The sustainable aviation fuels reduce CO2 emissions by at least 80 percent on average over the entire lifecycle, compared with their fossil equivalent.

Air France-KLM has implemented a strict sourcing policy and is committed to purchasing only SAFs that do not compete with human food or animal feed, that are certified for sustainability by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials or the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification, and that are not derived from palm oil.

With the signing of this MOU, Air France-KLM and Total Energies confirm their collaboration and their goal of furthering the development of a more responsible aviation sector.

Air France-KLM Group and Total Energies have been collaborating on the use of SAF for nearly 10 years. Their partnership began with “Lab Line for the Future” in 2014, a two-year experiment during which 78 flights between Paris-Orly and Toulouse and between Paris-Orly and Nice were powered by 10 percent SAF supplied by Total Energies.

In January 2020, Air France and Total Energies participated, alongside Safran and Suez, in the call for expression of interest launched by the French government aimed at developing SAF production in France.

Over the past two years, Total Energies has also supplied SAF for a number of Air France-KLM Group commercial flights.

“Biofuel development is one of our company’s strategic priorities,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total Energies. “This new partnership with Air France-KLM exemplifies the excellence of industry and French aerospace in committing to a more sustainable aviation sector. By directly reducing the carbon intensity of the energy products used by our air-transport customers, we are actively working with them to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, together with society.”

Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, added, “Air France-KLM is fully committed to advancing SAF production in Europe and around the world. This memorandum of understanding with Total Energies is another building block in the development of French production that can meet the airlines’ needs, marking a milestone in the successful decarbonization of our business. We continue to step up our efforts to reduce the impact of our operations as quickly as possible, and we look forward to working with Total Energies to accelerate our efforts to reduce the impact of our operations as quickly as possible.”

Total Energies aims to produce half a billion gallons of SAF by 2030.