Airbus and Air Canada Launch Initiative to Scale SAF Production in Canada
- Joe Breitfeller
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Air Canada has today announced the establishment of a jointly funded Co-Investment Platform with Airbus to support a commercial-scale SAF industry in Canada.
On Monday (July 20, 2026), Air Canada announced the establishment of a jointly funded Sustainability Co-Investment Platform with Airbus. This agreement states a shared objective to invest up to approximately CAD 13.7 million (US $10 million), through the platform to support a commercial-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry in Canada. Both companies are confident that, with a supportive public policy framework in place, this investment can serve as a catalyst for the broader Canadian SAF ecosystem.
In Monday’s announcement, Air Canada’s VP – Airport Affairs, Corporate Real Estate and Sustainability, Valerie Durand, said,
“Air Canada is proud to help advance aviation’s energy transition in Canada. Through this joint initiative with Airbus, we are taking meaningful steps toward supporting domestic SAF production, helping corporate customers address the emissions associated with business travel, and contributing to a lower-carbon path for the industry. With continued industry collaboration and a supportive policy environment, we are confident this momentum can accelerate.”
Also commenting on the new sustainability partnership, Airbus’ Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer, Julie Kitcher, said,
“I want to thank Air Canada for this very important joint sustainability initiative. Decarbonising aviation will require deep industry collaboration and decades of investment in new sources of renewable energy. By launching this co-investment platform and making a long-term commitment to Air Canada’s Leave Less Travel Programme, we will help to stimulate the production of, and demand for, SAF in Canada. The country has a vast feedstock potential. When combined with a supportive policy framework, it can contribute to the sector’s decarbonisation ambitions and create significant economic growth and job creation.”
Key focus areas of the partnership will include accelerating a jointly agreed Canadian SAF project toward a Final Investment Decision (FID). While Air Canada and Airbus intend to drive this investment, both companies look forward to continuing their constructive collaboration with government partners to establish the right structural frameworks to support SAF production to emerge at scale in Canada. Their ongoing joint advocacy alongside the Canadian Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition (C-SAF) reflects a shared commitment to working with federal and provincial governments. By aligning industry initiatives with supportive public policy mechanisms, they can successfully champion domestic SAF production and price competitiveness, with the objective to make renewable fuels available for the Canadian aerospace industry and to preserve affordability of air travel.
Demonstrating their commitment to sustainability, Airbus has signed a long-term, 5-year Leave Less Travel Program Agreement. As part of this parallel corporate travel partnership, which distributes verified SAF environmental attributes to participants, Airbus will purchase SAF environmental attributes associated with over 60,000 liters of SAF for their first allocation. Under this program, Air Canada will track Airbus’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their corporate travel and remove verified SAF environmental attributes on the company’s behalf. Although in-sector emissions reductions are not a substitute for direct emissions reductions at the source, this corporate partnership is a key tool in supporting the scaling up of SAF and will allow Airbus to lower life cycle emissions associated with their employees’ business travel.
Source(s): Air Canada / GLOBE NEWSWIRE, Airbus
