China Airlines uses 40% sustainable aviation fuel on long-haul routes for the first time and joins hands with CITIC Bank to promote carbon reduction

China Airlines announced today that its CI073 Taipei-Amsterdam long-haul flight will use 40% Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) on September 13. This is the first time that the application of high-ratio SAF has been extended to long-haul flights.

China Airlines said that for the fifth time this year, it responded to the SkyTeam Alliance SkyTeam "The Aviation Challenge (TAC)" to use innovation to practice aviation carbon reduction. The aviation challenge is themed "Collective Momentum" and emphasizes bringing together corporate partners and supply chain forces to jointly promote sustainable development and net-zero transformation.

For the first time, China Airlines has expanded its demonstration flights to long-haul routes, and has once again joined forces with China Trust Bank, a co-branded card issuer. After joining hands to add 20% SAF to regional routes in 2024, the two parties will continue to work together to promote low-carbon flights this year. This demonstration flight uses the Book & Claim method to increase the SAF usage ratio to 40%, with a total amount of 36.3 metric tons.

Since 2022, China Airlines has completed a total of 8 demonstration flights, reducing at least 600 metric tons of carbon emissions, demonstrating the determination and results of cross-partner collaboration to promote low-carbon transportation.

China Airlines has long been promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuel. In recent years, it has successively implemented the addition of new aircraft, operated passenger and all-cargo flights, and launched corporate customer cooperation plans.

Chen Hanming, general manager of China Airlines, said that sustainable aviation fuel is an important key for the aviation industry to move towards net-zero transformation. China Airlines is committed to expanding the scope of SAF application and promoting its implementation in major regions such as Europe, America and Asia starting from 2025. It will integrate low-carbon concepts into flight operations and passenger services, and join hands with corporate partners, supply chains and passengers to participate in carbon reduction actions, so that every flight becomes a force to promote industry transformation and accelerate the move towards the 2050 net-zero carbon emission target.

Chen Defeng, Director of the Payment Finance Division of China Trust Bank, said that China Trust is committed to promoting sustainable finance and supporting the low-carbon transformation of the aviation industry. This year, it exclusively sponsored the China Airlines SAF demonstration flight and once again supported the aviation industry's carbon reduction with practical actions. He hopes that through this cooperation, we can build cross-industry sustainability, guide sustainable funds to green industries with substantial carbon reduction benefits, and become the most solid backing for Taiwan's implementation of net zero.