Bombardier Signs SAF Agreement With Signature Aviation

Bombardier has signed a multiyear deal with aviation services company Signature Aviation for the purchase of enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to cover all of its flight operations. The agreement was signed at the 2022 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition and is slated to begin on Jan. 1, 2023. It will use the Signature Renew book and claim system, which is designed to allow customers to purchase fuel at airports without access to SAF and have the amount credited, then used at an airport where it is already available.

“Signature Renew’s Book & Claim program is business aviation’s most pragmatic approach to making the lowest overall carbon intensity SAF quickly and easily accessible,” said Signature Aviation CEO Tony Lefebvre. “Over the last two years, Signature has grown our SAF supply points to 17 global airports, or around 10% of our total network of private aviation terminals. But until we reach the milestone of SAF at every one of our terminals’ fuel farms, Book & Claim gives critical coverage to gaps in supply while immediately taking greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere."

Bombardier’s flight operations include production testing and certification flights, flights to relocate new aircraft for completion activities, customer demonstration flights and after-service check flights. The company emphasized that SAF is currently only used in blends of up to 50 percent with conventional fuel, noting that the most commonly available blend is 30 percent SAF and 70 percent conventional fuel. Bombardier estimates that the move to SAF will reduce annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fuel use in its flight operations by around 25 percent.