Customers participating in the scheme will contribute to Virgin’s SAF purchases and receive a SAF certificate for the associated scope 3 emissions reductions.
They will benefit from detailed insight into their scope 3 emissions via Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s airfreight carbon calculator, which uses an industry recognised methodology and the airline’s flight emissions data to provide insights to participating customers.
DB Schenker is the first participant in the scheme with the purchase of several thousand tonnes of scope 3 emissions reductions.
Virgin has committed to SAF making up 10% of fuel usage by 2030 with its first UK supply of 2.5 million litres of Neste Oyi neat SAF being delivered to London’s Heathrow Airport in 2022.
Phil Wardlaw, Vice President and Managing Director, Cargo, at Virgin Atlantic, says, “It’s through collaboration and partnership that we’ll be able to find more sustainable ways to fly. Our new SAFc programme allows us to collaborate with customers and support them in making lower carbon choices to meet sustainability targets, easily understand their emissions and support future SAF contributions – a key step towards our Net Zero commitments.”
Thorsten Meincke, Global Board Member for Air & Ocean Freight at DB Schenker, adds, “Climate neutrality is an ambitious goal – but it must be our guiding principle. That is why we are steadily expanding our portfolio of fossil-free air freight solutions. We are delighted to be Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s first partner for the application of SAF. Together, we provide our customers with new opportunities to make a substantial reduction in their carbon footprint.”