Nokia joins DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo on CO2-neutral air freight
Telecoms giant Nokia has joined up with supply chain management firm DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo as they extend weekly cargo flight rotations between Frankfurt and Shanghai using sustainable aviation fuel.
DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo are set to extend their weekly CO2-free freighter flights between Frankfurt and Shanghai. The joint mission will be continued throughout the winter flight schedule until March 2022. The companies estimate that 14,175 tonnes of greenhouse gases will be saved.
Now Nokia has signed up to the initiative, committing to more climate-friendly air freight. The global telecommunication network provider has announced that every week, the company will avoid greenhouse gas emissions by using the world’s only freighter flight 100% covered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), produced from renewable waste, such as used cooking oils.
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The fuel requirement for the flight rotation from Frankfurt to Shanghai and back is covered entirely by SAF. This saves around 174 tonnes of conventional kerosene every week. During the summer flight schedule 2021, the initiative successfully achieved a net reduction of 20,250 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Thorsten Meincke, Global Board Member for Air & Ocean Freight at DB Schenker, said: “The ambitious goal of climate neutrality affects every business and how our customers look at their footprint also in their supply chains. Together with Lufthansa Cargo, we extend our unique offer of a regular carbon-neutral flight connection.
"The SAF full charter flight rotation is a game-changer as it goes beyond a pay-per-use scheme. We are pleased to have Nokia on board as a new major customer for our westbound flights. Together, we can avoid CO2 and take another step towards a more sustainable future.”
Over the next five months, Nokia will be using the carbon-neutral flight offer to ship a weekly freight volume of 10 tonnes of communications network equipment from a production facility in Shanghai to its European hub in Tilburg in the Netherlands.
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This shipment is entirely covered by SAF, which will reduce 100% of carbon emissions during the life cycle, avoiding any offsetting. The end-to-end agreement with DB Schenker covers both the air and land transport of the goods from Shanghai to Tilburg. All land transport elements will be covered utilising another advanced type of biofuel, hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).
The SAF used for the DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo flight connection is produced by Neste, a major provider of sustainable fuel. The Finnish producer is currently increasing its Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel production to 1.5 million tonnes annually by the end of 2023.
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