Air Canada Celebrates Earth Day by Dedicating Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Four Flights Through Its Leave Less Travel Program

• The combustion of SAF on these four flights will reduce the GHG emissions by approximately 39 tonnes of CO₂e, the equivalent of two rounds trips between Ottawa and Vancouver by car

MONTREAL, April 22, 2022 /CNW/ - Air Canada announced today that it will dedicate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to four commercial flights departing from San Francisco to its major hubs in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal.

Through its Leave Less Travel Program, Air Canada is sourcing its SAF from Neste, a leading producer of renewable fuels, which will provide the airline with Neste MY Sustainable Aviation FuelTM. (CNW Group/Air Canada)

Through its Leave Less Travel Program, Air Canada is sourcing its SAF from Neste, a leading producer of renewable fuels, which will provide the airline with Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel^TM. Powering aircraft with SAF directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at the source. These four flights will allow Air Canada to reduce emissions by approximately 39 tonnes of CO₂e, compared with the combustion of conventional fossil jet fuel. This represents the equivalent of two rounds trips between Ottawa and Vancouver, or roughly 19,000 km, by car.

"Today we reaffirm our strong, ongoing commitment to sustainable aviation and reaching net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. Air Canada has been involved in the advancement and development of sustainable aviation fuel for a decade and we are proud to continue to lead the way in Canada when it comes to aviation climate action," said Teresa Ehman, Senior Director, Environmental Affairs at Air Canada. "SAF is the main avenue by which Air Canada and the aviation industry as a whole will reduce their GHG emissions, as the industry continues to develop other aircraft technologies such as electric, hybrid or hydrogen aircraft at scale in a commercially meaningful way.

"The road to decarbonizing aviation requires a collective effort and is why Air Canada actively works with government, producers, and aviation stakeholders to accelerate and develop a commercial production of SAF in Canada. Because SAF will play an important role in decarbonizing the industry, we welcome corporate Canada to join our Leave Less Travel Program to increase the market demand for SAF in Canada as well as to reduce the environmental impacts of their business travel."

Scheduled SAF Flights

Flight #	Routes	Schedule	Fleet Type
AC738	San Francisco-Toronto	April 22, 2022	Boeing 737 Max-8
AC575	San Francisco-Vancouver	April 22, 2022	Boeing 737 Max-8
AC8648	San Francisco-Calgary	April 22, 2022	Mitsubishi CRJ-900
AC760	San Francisco-Montreal	April 23, 2022	Airbus A220-300

Leave Less Travel Program

With Air Canada's Leave Less Travel Program, corporate customers can purchase SAF, carbon offsets or a combination of both to offset or reduce GHG emissions related to business travel and reduce their carbon footprint. This program is one of the many comprehensive initiatives being implemented as part of Air Canada's Climate Action Plan and an additional step towards achieving the airline's long-term goal of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.

As part of its Climate Action Plan, Air Canada committed to invest $50 million in SAF and carbon reduction and removal technologies. According to IATA, SAF has the potential to provide a lifecycle GHG emissions reduction of up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel.

Key SAF Collaborations:

• Air Canada is a founding member of the newly launched  Canadian Council for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (C-SAF), a not-for-profit organization that aims to accelerate the commercial production and deployment of SAF in Canada.
  
  
  
• Air Canada is a founding member of, and the first Canadian carrier to join the Aviation Climate Taskforce (ACT), formed to tackle the challenge of rising CO₂ emissions from commercial aviation. Made up of ten global airlines and the Boston Consulting Group, the ACT was established to accelerate research and advance innovation related to emerging decarbonization technologies, including through the development of sustainable aviation fuels.
  
  
  
• Air Canada is a signatory of the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition. The coalition's mission is to accelerate the deployment and use of SAF technologies to reach 10% of global jet aviation fuel supply by 2030.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline, the country's flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking from the independent U.K. research firm Skytrax, which in 2021 also named Air Canada as having the Best Airline Staff in North America, Best Airline Staff in Canada, Best Business Class Lounge in North America, as well as an Excellence award for its handling of COVID-19. Also in 2021, Air Canada was named Global Traveler's Best Airline in North America for the third straight year. In January 2021, Air Canada received APEX's Diamond Status Certification for the Air Canada CleanCare+ biosafety program for managing COVID-19, the only airline in Canada to attain the highest APEX ranking. Air Canada has also committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations by 2050. For more information, please visit: aircanada.com/media, follow Air Canada on Twitter and LinkedIn, and join Air Canada on Facebook.

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