S-Oil powers Korean Air flight with local eco-friendly fuel

S-Oil will begin supplying domestically produced sustainable aviation fuel to Korean Air’s flights between Incheon International Airport and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport once a week, the company said Sunday, becoming the first refiner in South Korea to provide SAF for regular international passenger flights departing from a local airport.

The first SAF-fueled flight took off last Friday, celebrated at a ceremony attended by key figures such as Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun; Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo; and Kim Sang-hyup, chair of the 2050 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Commission. The officials celebrated the launch as a major achievement in the country's quest for carbon neutrality by 2050.

“S-Oil is responding actively to transform itself into a clean energy supplier that aligns itself with global decarbonization trends and contributes to building a resource-circular economy,” S-Oil CEO Anwar Al-Hejazi said during the event.

Looking ahead, Al-Hejazi also said that S-Oil is considering the production of an SAF-exclusive production facility to expand SAF supply stably to meet the growing demand both domestically and internationally, while continuing to explore opportunities to supply other green energy and resource-circular products.

Earlier this year, S-Oil pioneered low-carbon aviation fuel using bio-based feedstock like used cooking oil and palm residue oil, earning certifications from the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.