Manila and Singapore are connected by Cebu Pacific, the largest low-cost airline in the Philippines, since severalnumber of years ago. The airline's narrowbody fleet normally operates flight 5J 814, which runs daily between Changi Airport's Terminal 4 and Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport. On September 28, however, flight 5J 814 was a little bit different from usual.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) was used for the first time on a commercial passenger aircraft, making Cebu Pacific the first airline in the Philippines to use SAF in regularly scheduled operations. The airline's Airbus A321neo registration RP-C4123, which was made by Neste and supplied by Shell Eastern Petroleum, was uplifted in Singapore with 35% blended SAF before departing for Manila.
Cebu Pacific's trip may have been the company's first commercial passenger service powered by SAF, but it was by no means the first time SAF had been used by the low-cost carrier. When Cebu Pacific received a brand-new Airbus A330neo from Toulouse to Manila in May and used SAF to power the whole journey, it became the first Asian low-cost carrier to implement SAF into its operations.
As a result, the airline started making the highly exceptional commitment to guarantee that all future Airbus neo delivery flights will be powered by SAF. The second Airbus A320neo powered by SAF was delivered to Cebu Pacific in July. This year's third Airbus A330neo powered by SAF will arrive sometime in November. In December, a second A320neo will be delivered as the year's last.
Cebu Pacific has stated that the inaugural SAF passenger flight will only happen once for the time being, despite the airline's commitment to adopting SAF to decarbonize, just as it is to sustainably power its cargo planes. Given the current market's low demand and even lower supply for SAF, the low-cost carrier has remarked that getting it for commercially scheduled aircraft operations has been somewhat difficult in terms of availability and money.
Source: SimpleFlying.com
