Highlights of 2019
As we approach the end of the year our CEO, Jon Platt, looks back over 2019 and reveals his highlights
This last year has seen the aviation industry thrust into the media spotlight with the attention on the impact it has on the environment. Sustainability is a key part of our agenda at Air BP and something we have been working on behind the scenes for many years. This year has been our busiest yet working on sustainability initiatives, with the aim of reducing the carbon emissions omitted by the industry.
In April, we announced a sustainability initiative with Neste, who are a world leading renewable fuel producer. In collaboration with them we made SAF available at Sweden’s Kalmar Öland airport.
In May, we collaborated with aviation industry players, Braathens Regional Airlines, ATR and Neste to achieve ‘The Perfect Flight’ from Halmstad City Airport (Sweden) to Stockholm Bromma Airport (Sweden). The Perfect Flight was powered by sustainable aviation fuel, supplied by Air BP and produced by Neste. This marked the first time that every element in the flight management process on a regional flight had been optimised to keep carbon emissions to an absolute minimum and achieve the ‘Perfect Flight.’
We have continued to offer sustainable aviation fuel throughout the year; firstly, to operators and manufacturers at Stockholm Arlanda and then later to Caen Carpiquet airport ahead of the EBACE convention in Geneva in May. This was in support of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel industry association, a UK business led ambition to deliver a cleaner, quieter and smarter industry, which Air BP is a member of.
In July, we partnered with Delta Air Lines to supply sustainable aviation fuel, produced by Neste, for 20 delivery flights from the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile, Alabama. Through the BP Target Neutral programme, we also offset the residual carbon emissions of each delivery flight. This marked another example of Air BP’s commitment to advancing the energy transition and helping customers meet their lower carbon goals as well.
August was another busy month as our carbon offset programme for business aviation was extended to two of Voa Sāo Paulo’s (Brazil) airports with the potential to expand further.
We’re continuing to significantly invest in new technologies that will reduce the environmental impact of aviation through life changing carbon offsetting programmes and we’re working hard to deliver more sustainable aviation fuel than ever.
Furthermore, we have supplied over 15 locations so far this year. We’re also proud to be the only fuel provider to have met the tough standards to be awarded carbon neutral certification for all our operations.
Throughout the year we have taken on a number of new locations and formed new partnerships. Our first new location of the year was La Perdiz Airport (Spain); this was quickly followed by Murcia-San Javier. We further expanded our services in West Africa, offering fuelling services at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. We also added Malta International Airport, Shenyang International Airport in China and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands to our network. In June we expanded our partnership with CNAF in China with the signing of a joint venture agreement; this was to operate a general aviation fuel business in southwest China. August also saw BP collaborate with Reliance Aviation to create a major world-class fuels partnership for India’s fast-growing market by forming a joint venture. This includes a retail service station network and aviation fuels business across India. November saw us expanding our presence in Latin America through collaboration with AXION Energy. In Spain, a new JV agreement was established with Servicios Logisticos de Combustibles de Aviacion (SLCA).
Some of you will have heard about our ‘Airfield Automation’ technology. It is the World’s first misfuel prevention technology; a cloud-based platform which automatically captures data and transmits in real time and is designed to help prevent misfuelling by means of an engineering barrier. This unique technology has been introduced to more of our locations from Australia to the UK, Greece and Brazil.
There were many highlights in 2019, one that particularly stands out for me was when I was able to award Air BP’s fifth Sterling Pilot Scholarship to Kristoff Ahlner back in September. This marks five years of the scholarship programme. Being able to fund another young pilot and help kick start a career is always special, particularly given the current global pilot shortage.