DB Schenker and Lufthansa extend SAF freighter flights until March
27 / 10 / 2021
DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo are extending their sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) powered freighter flights between Frankfurt and Shanghai through the winter season, while Nokia has also joined the initiative.
The regular SAF-powered flights were launched earlier this year and the partners will now extend the programme through to March 2022.
The fuel requirement for the flight rotation from Frankfurt to Shanghai is covered entirely by SAF – through an allocation from a central pool – and saves around 174 tons of conventional kerosene every week.
“During the summer flight schedule 2021, the initiative successfully achieved a net reduction of 20,250 tons of greenhouse gases (CO2e),” the partners said. “In the upcoming winter flight schedule, from the end of October 2021 to the end of March 2022, another 14,175 tons are expected.”
Over the next five months, Nokia will be using the carbon-neutral flight offer to ship a weekly freight volume of 10 tons of communications network equipment from a production facility in Shanghai to its European hub in Tilburg in the Netherlands.
The end-to-end agreement with DB Schenker covers both the air and land transport of the goods from Shanghai to Tilburg. All land transport elements will be covered utilizing another advanced type of biofuel, hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).
Thorsten Meincke, global board member for air & ocean freight at DB Schenker, said: “The SAF full charter flight rotation is a game-changer as it goes beyond a pay-per-use scheme. We are pleased to have Nokia on board as a new major customer for our westbound flights. Together, we can avoid CO2 and take another step towards a more sustainable future.”
Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia, added: “We constantly seek to reduce our transportation and logistics carbon footprint, and air cargo is a significant contributor. This collaboration to transport our 5G equipment on carbon-neutral flights is another important step.”
The greenhouse gas emissions during the production and transport of the fuel are compensated with certified offset projects.
