Emirates has become the first international airline to join aireg, the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany. The airline pledged its membership earlier at ILA Berlin 2024 in an official signing ceremony, a significant move that underscores Emirates’ commitment towards improving the sustainability of its operations and to the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The pledge will see the airline contribute to efforts to ramp up locally produced SAF in Germany, complementing several other SAF-related initiatives Emirates has launched in the past few months.
The partnership between Emirates and aireg was signed in Berlin by Volker Greiner, Emirates Vice President North & Central Europe, and Siegfried Knecht, Chairman of the Executive Board of aireg. They were joined by Dr. Anna Christmann, Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy.
Sir Tim Clark, Emirates’ President commented on the new partnership with aireg: “We’re very pleased to become a member of aireg, and contribute to Germany’s efforts to build its capacities to become a centre for SAF production. Our industry requires large quantities of sustainable aviation fuel at a commercially viable cost, yet the shortage persists. Ramping up and furthering technologies for the production of SAF requires the partnership and support from multiple stakeholders and we are confident that aireg will lead in this regard.”
Siegfried Knecht, Chairman of the Executive Board of aireg, thankfully acknowledged the partnership between Emirates and aireg: “I am equally humbled and proud to welcome a leader in global aviation in our membership and on behalf of the entire aireg board I very much look forward to a fruitful partnership and cooperation. We need all hands on deck, airlines, airports, OEMs, producers, suppliers, RTOs, startups and of course politics to get us well on track towards net-zero by 2050“.
Germany is one of Emirates’ most important markets, and the airline has been part of German skies, cities and communities since 1987. aireg is committed to the increased production and use of regenerative aviation fuels in Germany.
Emirates currently operates flights from Amsterdam, London Heathrow, Paris, Lyon, Oslo and Singapore with SAF.
Last year, the airline collaborated with Shell Aviation to supply SAF into Dubai Airport fuelling systems for the first time ever, allocating the SAF to a number of flights.
Emirates, the world’s largest A380 operator, returned to ILA Berlin for the 7th consecutive time. The Emirates A380 is on static display for all five airshow days, reaffirming the carrier’s longstanding commitment to the EU’s leading aerospace show. The positioning flight from Berlin to Dubai on Monday will be operated with blended fuel that contains neat SAF, reinforcing the airline‘s active contribution as an exhibitor to reduce its carbon emissions at ILA Berlin 2024.
