Malaysia’s national carrier Malaysia Airlines has successfully operated the country’s first flight on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Flight MH7979, operated by the airline’s A330-200 aircraft, arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on 17 December.

The passenger to cargo aircraft was fuelled by a blended mixture of about 38% SAF made from used cooking oil and conventional jet fuel.

This successful operation was a result of a supply deal between PETCO Trading (UK) Ltd, PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad’s marketing and trading arm in Europe, and Neste, a leading producer of renewable diesel and SAF refined from waste and residues.

Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) group chief Captain Izham Ismail said the flight marked the airline’s commitment to making SAF a cleaner and more viable energy option for regular flights by 2025. The group is committed to working towards having a viable SAF supply chain in Malaysia,

SAF is one of the key contributors towards decarbonising the aviation industry, which on its neat form can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent compared to regular jet fuel.

Neste said it continues to scale up operations and will have the capacity to produce some 1.5 million tonnes of SAF annually by the end of 2023.

Over 370,000 flights and 45 airlines using SAF have taken to the skies since 2016, Payload Asia learned.