Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne becomes first French airport to offer biofuels

The small regional airport of Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region of Central France has become the first airport in country to offer sustainable biofuel to its airlines.

The VINCI Airports operated gateway began offering the Air bp manufactured biofuel produced from food oil yesterday, and notes that Michelin Air Services is its first customer.

Biofuels are one of the key items of VINCI Airports’ environmental commitment to decarbonise aviation, as demonstrated by its response in July 2020 to the State’s call for expressions of interest on the production of sustainable aeronautical biofuels in France.

Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and chairman of VINCI Airports, notes: “Sustainable biofuels are a short-term solution to decarbonise aviation, and are an integral part of the ambitious environmental strategy we have been pursuing since 2015 to reduce our carbon footprint and engage our stakeholders in the same movement.

“We are pleased with this progress and remain mobilised to contribute, alongside the industrial players, to developing a less carbonised aviation, that is compatible with the aspirations of travellers.”

While Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, said: “Preserving the environment is a considerable issue and undoubtedly constitutes the biggest challenge of the 21st century.

“Regional actors are mobilised to develop the use of clean energy, for example with the European Zero emission valley programme for vehicles, or with the development of hydrogen powered trains.

“Allowing planes to refuel with less polluting sustainable biofuels will allow Clermont-Ferrand-Auvergne airport to be at the forefront of innovation while being a role model of progress to help decarbonise aviation.”

VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to implement a global environmental strategy and its efforts have helped significantly reduce CO₂ emissions across its network, which dropped by 22% between 2018 and 2020.