MANILA, 25 May 2022: Cebu Pacific (CEB) used green fuel to power its brand-new Airbus A330neo on its delivery flight from Airbus facilities in Toulouse, France, to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.
It becomes the first low-cost carrier in Asia to incorporate sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into its operations. The historic flight on the Airbus A330neo aircraft departed Toulouse, France powered by a blended mixture of SAF and conventional fuel arriving in Manila on 20 May.
The new aircraft is CEB’s third A330neo and is the greenest aircraft in the industry, given its fuel efficiency and carrying capacity.
CEB’s A330neo is configured with 459 seats in a single-class layout and is fuel-efficient, achieving 25% less fuel burn than previous-generation aircraft.
CEB intends to fuel up with SAF when delivering two more A33neo aircraft later this year.
“This move to use SAF is a pillar of Cebu Pacific’s sustainable journey. SAF will be used for aircraft delivery and is a major component of our fleet modernisation. This strengthens our drive to achieve our green goal of being carbon neutral by 2050,” said Cebu Pacific chief strategy officer Alex Reyes.
SAF is a “drop-in” replacement for fossil fuels produced from renewable resources. The use of SAF results in an up to 85% reduction in carbon emissions across the SAF lifecycle. The chemical and physical characteristics of SAF are almost identical to those of conventional jet fuel and can be safely mixed with regular jet fuel to varying degrees. SAF does not require any adaptations to the aircraft or engines and does not negatively impact performance or maintenance.
The airline’s sustainability goal is aligned with global aviation’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. To respond to this challenge, CEB pledges to use SAF to launch green routes by 2025 and fuel its entire network by 2030.
