Two more FBOs in California—Monterey Jet Center and Signature Flight Support Oakland—will soon offer permanent supplies of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Neste, company v-p for North America Chris Cooper said at the virtual NBAA Flight Operations conference on Wednesday. This will effectively double the U.S. locations where business jet operators can reliably uplift SAF, a drop-in fuel that can reduce aircraft greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent.
SAF is currently available full-time at Signature Flight Support San Francisco International (SFO) and London Luton (LTN), as well as Signature Select FBO Sun Air Jets at Southern California’s Camarillo Airport (CMA) and Jet Aviation Van Nuys. Since the same Neste supply pipeline feeds SFO and Oakland (OAK), Signature can easily integrate SAF into its FBO there. Brian Batty, Signature’s director of fuel operations, said permanent SAF supplies will soon be at OAK, with more locations to follow in the U.S. and Europe this year.
Meanwhile, Neste and Avfuel have partnered to provide FBOs in the latter’s network with consistent SAF supplies. Monterey Jet Center will be the first Avfuel-branded FBO to do so under this collaboration, with the first SAF load expected later next month. Avfuel manager of alternative fuels Keith Sawyer said this will then be expanded to other FBOs in its network.
Cooper explained that the concentration of permanent SAF supplies at California FBOs has to do with that state’s green fuel incentives, which help make SAF more price competitive with conventional jet-A. To help expand SAF supply to facilities elsewhere in the U.S., Sawyer urged aircraft operators contact their state representatives to enact biofuel incentives.