Turkish Airlines signed Global SAF Declaration

Turkish Airlines continues its support for the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels which play a key role in reducing carbon emissions. Starting to actively use Sustainable Aviation Fuel during its operations as of 2022, Turkish Airlines emphasized the importance of the matter for the company by signing Global SAF Declaration.

            Global SAF Declaration represents collaboration between aviation, aerospace and fuel partners to decarbonize sustainable aviation fuel. The aim of the declaration is to completely decarbonize sustainable aviation fuels.

            Turkish Airlines plans to increase SAF usage to the highest levels in line with the technical, regulatory, safety and financial feasibility. 

On the matter, Turkish Airlines Chief Investment & Technology Officer Levent Konukçu stated: “Reducing its emissions significantly with the inclusion of new generation aircraft to its fleet, operational optimizations and high-level fuel saving applications, Turkish Airlines will continue its support and investment to sustainable aviation fuels.” 

Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International, Christian Scherer said: "Airbus is fully committed to developing a sustainable aviation industry, across the value chain, that will reduce the environmental impact of flying. The Declaration supports exactly that and today, Turkish Airlines has responded to the call to join this initiative, signing up to work with all the stakeholders in our journey towards zero emission aircraft. I am proud that Türkiye is demonstrating their commitment in this endeavour."

Rolls-Royce Chief Technology Officer Grazia Vittadini stated: “Working together with our industry partners across the value chain to encourage the uptake of Sustainable Aviation Fuels is a key part of the Rolls-Royce sustainability strategy. We welcome Turkish Airline’s commitment to signing the SAF Declaration and for its support of this important initiative. By signing this agreement, the airline has also given a clear signal that Türkiye is fully behind driving the momentum and collaboration necessary for a successful transition to a more sustainable future for global aviation.”

            Starting to use sustainable aviation fuel for the first time in 2022 on the Istanbul Airport – Paris Charles De Gaulle route, Turkish Airlines extended this usage to its Paris, Oslo, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, London and Stockholm for one day of every week. Global airlines intend to increase the frequencies and destinations served with sustainable aviation fuel in the future. Also, sustainable aviation fuel records up to 87 percent decrease in green house gas emissions compared to traditional kerosene fuel.

            Additionally, Turkish Airlines cooperates with universities to support biofuel research and development in order to reduce the fossil fuel usage in aviation. In this regard, Microalgae Based Sustainable Bio-Jet Fuel Project (MICRO-JET) project is being conducted with Boğaziçi University and supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Türkiye). After the successful conclusion of the project, aim will be to use this biofuel, which will be obtained from sustainable sources in our flights after the engine tests carried out by Turkish Technic in 2022.