American Airlines Gets First-Ever CORSIA-Certified Batch of Sustainable Fuel

American Airlines became the first airline to take delivery of a Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation or CORSIA-certified batch of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) this week.

The SAF was from Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel and delivered to San Francisco International Airport as a part of a pilot program to certify SAF as a CORSIA-eligible fuel that can be used by an airline to meet its emissions obligation under CORSIA standards.

CORSIA is a carbon offset and carbon reduction scheme to lower CO2 emissions for international flights, helping to curb the aviation impact on climate change. It was developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Until now, no airline in the world has taken delivery of CORSIA-certified SAF.

“Sustainable aviation fuel is widely acknowledged as a key element in achieving the aviation industry’s goals of carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050,” Thorsten Lange, Neste’s Executive Vice President, Renewable Aviation, said in a statement. “The pilot with American Airlines was a perfect opportunity for proving the feasibility of delivering CORSIA certified SAF and gaining useful insights into setting up the process and the challenges we need to overcome to enable the implementation of CORSIA.”

“American is proud to partner with Neste to demonstrate how SAF can meet the robust sustainability standards that ICAO has established for CORSIA,” said Jill Blickstein, Head of ESG at American. “Our work together will also help demonstrate to American’s customers that SAF can meet these high standards.”