– Jan Lindholm, Sales Director, Jetflite

Jetflite is a Finnish company that provides exclusive private jet charter services, air ambulance, aircraft management, and maintenance services. In 50 years, Jetflite has emerged as one of the largest and most reliable charter operators in Northern Europe.

With their modern fleet, permanent base at the international Helsinki-Vantaa airport, and decades of experience, they serve a spectrum of exclusive services. The company’s customer base comprises private individuals, corporations, governments, and other public organizations. In addition, a significant part of the company’s core offering is air ambulance flights.

Jetflite is part of Wihuri Group, a prolific Finnish family-owned business conglomerate. As a salient part of their corporate responsibility plan, the company is committed to reducing their operations’ environmental impact, improving resource efficiency, and minimizing carbon footprint. With these ambitious objectives, Jetflite began seeking efficient solutions to accomplish its sustainability goals.

1. Reaching sustainability goals

With an ambitious corporate responsibility plan, Jetflite was seeking concrete ways to reduce its emissions.

2. Offering customers the opportunity to lower their own carbon footprint

As many companies were searching for ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, Jetflite wanted to start providing a service that helps customers achieve their own sustainability targets.

3. Becoming an industry pioneer

Jetflite wants to set an example for the charter operator industry. For this, they needed a reliable supplier of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel offered a quick solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from flights.

“This partnership is important to us because it represents our desire to make a difference in a concrete way – not only in our own charter industry but in the big picture of our planet’s future.”Jan Lindholm, Sales Director, Jetflite

In order to reduce carbon footprint as part of their sustainability program, Jetflite had considered using SAF for their operations. They were, however, faced with the question of availability.

Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is already available in many airports in Europe, North America and Asia, and supplied to many commercial airlines and business aviation operators, either direct from Neste or through distributors supplied by Neste. In Finland, Neste is already partnering with Finnair to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by enabling SAF fueling at Helsinki Airport.

Neste MY SAF is made from sustainably sourced, renewable waste and residue raw materials. The fuel gives an immediate solution for reducing the direct greenhouse gas emissions of flying as it can reduce up to 80%* of greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil jet fuel use.

Neste was keen to introduce SAF to domestic aviation companies, thus meeting the interests of both companies. Jetflite seized the opportunity when Neste suggested that they use their SAF as a means of accelerating the business towards a more sustainable direction.

Prior to this new cooperation, Neste provided Jetflite’s regular jet fuel. Therefore, obtaining SAF was a simple adjustment and required no additional investment or systemic changes.

New, slightly tweaked, partnership ensured a reliable source of SAF for Jetflite’s fleet. For Jetflite, adopting SAF for their fleet was an easy and quick solution.

After Neste and Jetflite agreed on their partnership in March 2021, things moved forward quickly. From the beginning of May 2021, Jetflite customers will be able to opt for SAF-powered flights.

In addition to supplying SAF, Neste compiles Jetflite a report with emission reductions, which Jetflite can use in their own reporting.

The partnership is first of its kind in many ways. Jetflite is the first Finnish charter airline to introduce SAF to its fleet with the ability to allow customers the option of choosing SAF.

Similarly, for Neste the partnership represents the first partnership with a domestic charter airline in Finland.

“It is important to collaborate in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Together we can accomplish our goals to enhance more sustainable aviation”, says Tuomas Kulola, the Head of Sales, Marketing and Services, Neste, focusing especially on the strategic partnerships in the Finnish market.

With the partnership between the companies, the chain of emissions reductions couples the company’s own targets and provides a much-needed emission reductions for customers as well.

”Many of our corporate and public sector customers have sustainability programs in which they are dedicated to certain emission reductions. Charter flights are part of that equation. With our SAF-operated flights, we can now provide our customers a concrete way to reduce emissions and meet their goals”, Jetflite’s Sales Director Jan Lindholm says.

The enthusiasm is palpable, and the company has high hopes their customers will embrace the new service offering.

”If the pilot program is received well, we are planning to further increase the amount of SAF in our operations”, Lindholm says.

To ensure flying to become more and more sustainable is an on-going discussion in the field of business aviation and will be in the future, too.

“This partnership is important to us because it represents our desire to create an impact for low-emission aviation in a concrete way – not only in our own charter industry but also in the big picture of our planet’s future It is crucial for us to set the benchmark. We hope that our initiative encourages our peers to consider purchasing SAF. We want to be the forerunner because it sets an important example”, Lindholm states.

*) The method used to calculate life cycle emissions and emission reduction complies with the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC).