Development and Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

The aviation industry has been working to reduce CO₂ emissions from the perspective of reducing fuel consumption. The quality of the fuel used must be changed in order to reduce it further in the future. From this perspective, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is being developed and put into practical use in many countries around the world, mainly in Europe and the United States, and it is expected that SAF will be widely used after 2030. In this context, the JAL Group, with the aim of becoming the leading airline in the use of SAF, has set a goal of replacing 10% of fuel on board by 2030. In cooperation with public and private sectors, we will work with stakeholders in Japan and overseas to promote SAF's commercialization.

To achieve our 2025 target of replacing 1% of total fuel load with SAF, we are advancing SAF procurement both domestically and internationally, utilizing national and regional support systems for SAF production and utilization.

JAL reported CO₂ emissions reductions achieved through SAF use in 2024 to the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Following the Bureau's submission to ICAO, ICAO approved and officially published the report. Japan is the first country to report CO₂ emissions reductions from SAF use since ICAO CORSIA began in 2019.

In September 2025, we decided to jointly invest with oneworld alliance member airlines and partner companies in the oneworld BEV Fund, an investment fund managed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures in the United States. This will promote the development and production of next-generation SAF.

JAL loaded SAF in international flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Narita Airport in November 2017 and from San Francisco International Airport to Haneda Airport in January 2019.

In September 2018, the JAL Group, together with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development, Inc. and Marubeni Corporation, acquired a portion of the shares of Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. in California, USA. This is the first investment in a SAF production business by a Japanese company.

Since 2019, SAF has been loaded on delivery flights from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France, to Haneda Airport for Airbus A350 aircraft received by the JAL Group. In 2021, SAF was also loaded on the JAL Group's ATR-42-600 aircraft.

In January 2025, domestically produced SAF, which began mass production, was supplied to a passenger flight for the first time. Japan Airlines Flight JL891 (departing from Kansai to Shanghai (Pudong)) became the first recipient. This also marked the first time SAF was supplied to a passenger flight at Kansai International Airport.

In 2009, JAL conducted the first test flight using SAF made from non-edible feedstock. This is the world's first flight with SAF using the plant "Camelina."

As a first step toward commercialization, domestic SAF made from woodchips and microalgae produced at a demonstration plants have passed quality inspections and became possible to use for actual operation.
In June 2021, two types of domestic SAF were loaded on one flight. With this flight, The domestic SAF project, which public organizations, SAF manufacturers, supply chain companies, and airlines had been working together for many years, was completed successfully.

「All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (ANA) and JAL have developed a joint report “Toward Virtually Zero CO₂ Emissions from Air Transport in 2050,” with the aim of expanding awareness and promoting understanding of SAF.」

The JAL Group is implementing the “Let's Fly with Used Cooking Oil (Japanese only)” project to secure raw materials for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). In addition to the JAL headquarters building and employee cafeterias, collection points have been established at supermarkets.
This initiative collects household waste cooking oil that was previously discarded and utilizes it as a raw material for SAF.

• We established ACT FOR SKY, in cooperation with JGC HOLDINGS CORPORATION, REVO International Inc., and ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD.
  As a leading company in the use of SAF, we will work with 46 companies (as of March 2025) across industries to build supply chains and promote the use of domestic SAF.

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We have invested in MORISORA Bio Refinery LLC to realize sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using bioethanol derived from domestic timber. Mori-Sora Bio-Refinery is a joint venture established in July 2025 by Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Corporation, and Green Earth Institute, Inc. As part of the “Mori-Sora Project,” it aims to realize the “manufacturing and sales business of bioethanol and biochemical products using woody biomass as raw material.” A demonstration plant will be constructed within Nippon Paper's Iwanuma Mill in Miyagi Prefecture. Utilizing low-carbon, low-cost bioethanol production technology developed by GEI and sustainable forest resources from the Tohoku region, such as sawmill offcuts, the plant aims to produce over 1,000 kiloliters of bioethanol annually starting in 2027.

In order to promote the development and use of SAF throughout Japan, the JAL Group actively participates in the "Public-Private Council for the Introduction and Promotion of SAF" organized by the the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.