France’s centrally-located Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport is now the first in the country to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The facility is managed by Vinci Airports, the world’s largest private airport operator with 45 airports in 12 countries spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It began pumping SAF last week, with Michelin Air Services as the first customer.
"Allowing airplanes to refuel with less-polluting sustainable biofuels will allow Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport to be at the forefront of innovation while being a role model of progress to help decarbonize aviation," said Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region.
Between 2018 and 2020, Vinci achieved a 22 percent reduction in gross CO2 emissions across its network by employing SAF derived from used cooking oil and supplied by Air bp. “Sustainable biofuels are a short-term solution to decarbonize aviation and are an integral part of the ambitious environmental strategy we have been pursuing since 2015 to reduce our carbon footprint and engage our stakeholders in the same movement,” explained Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of Vinci Concessions and chairman of Vinci Airports.