RTTNews | Sep 29, 2021 08:50AM EDT

08:50 Wednesday, September 29, 2021 (RTTNews.com) - Low cost airline JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) announced Wednesday plans to speed up its transition to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) with an offtake agreement with SG Preston, a leading bioenergy developer. With the addition of this SG Preston agreement to its previous SAF commitments, JetBlue is well ahead of pace on its target to convert 10 percent of its total fuel usage to SAF on a blended basis by 2030.

The airline will reach nearly eight percent SAF usage by the end of 2023 when delivery of SAF under this agreement is expected. JetBlue is doubling its previous SAF commitment with SG Preston, which was first announced in 2016 as one of the largest SAF purchase agreements in aviation history.

This deal is expected to bring the first large-scale volume of domestically produced SAF for a commercial airline to New York's metropolitan airports. Targeting a start in 2023 and continuing over a 10-year period, SG Preston will deliver at least 670 million gallons of blended SAF to JetBlue to fuel its flight operations, helping JetBlue avoid approximately 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

JetBlue expects to invest more than $1 billion in purchasing SAF over the term of this agreement, at a price competitive to traditional Jet-A fuel, with no expected material impact to the airline's total fuel costs.

Sustainable aviation fuel is jet fuel produced from biological resources that can be replenished rapidly and without impacting food supply. Compared to traditional petroleum-based Jet-A fuel, renewable options can significantly reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants such as particulate matter and sulfur oxides.

JetBlue's revised deal with SG Preston is its third agreement for SAF. JetBlue recently entered into a new relationship with World Energy and World Fuel Services and began flying with SAF at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in July 2021.

Read the original article on RTTNews ( https://www.rttnews.com/3229100/jetblue-to-invest-more-than-1-bln-in-purchasing-sustainable-aviation-fuel-quick-facts.aspx)

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