Air Canada and Airbus have announced plans to establish a jointly funded Sustainability Co-Investment Platform to accelerate the development of a commercial-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry in Canada.
The two companies will invest up to €9.2 million to support SAF innovation and production, with the aim of helping advance a Canadian SAF project to a Final Investment Decision (FID), biofuels international reported.
The partners said the initiative is intended to stimulate domestic SAF production by leveraging Canada’s abundant feedstock resources while supporting the aviation sector’s decarbonisation goals. They added that a supportive public policy framework will be essential to scale up production and attract further investment.
A key objective of the platform is to identify and support a jointly selected Canadian SAF project capable of progressing to commercial deployment.
Air Canada and Airbus said they will continue working with federal and provincial governments, as well as the Canadian Council for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (C-SAF), to develop policies that encourage large-scale SAF production and improve the availability and affordability of renewable aviation fuels.
Air Canada said the initiative will also help corporate customers reduce emissions associated with business travel by expanding access to sustainable aviation fuel.
Airbus said long-term collaboration across the aviation industry will be critical to decarbonising air transport, noting that sustained investment in renewable energy and low-carbon fuels will be needed over the coming decades.
The companies said the new platform complements Air Canada’s Leave Less Travel Programme, which supports the use of sustainable aviation fuel as part of the airline’s broader emissions reduction strategy.
