Bank of America joins one of the world’s largest SAF programmes

American Express Global Business Travel and Shell Aviation have announced that Bank of America is the first financial institution to join their sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) programme.
The programme launched in 2022 with 1 million gallons of SAF available for corporate customers – enough to power almost 15,000 business trips from London-to-New York. Operated on the Avelia platform, it is one of the world’s first blockchain-powered digital SAF book-and-claim solutions for business travel.
Andrew Crawley, president, American Express Global Business Travel, said: “The business travel sector has a critical role to play in scaling SAF and accelerating the decarbonisation of travel.
“We will move closer to achieving these objectives with more companies like Bank of America making bold commitments and recognising the powerful role the corporate travel programme can play in achieving a company’s broader sustainability ambitions.”
Amex GBT and Shell Aviation’s programme aims to unite the aviation value chain to scale SAF supply and demand so the entire ecosystem can benefit.
The programme continues to gain momentum, with participants also including Aon, Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, and Delta.
Beth Sullivan, head of global corporate and executive Travel at Bank of America, said: “This is another step Bank of America is taking to reach our goal of having SAF account for at least 20% of our annual employee air travel by 2030. By purchasing SAF and working with other companies, we are taking more tangible steps to help build a more affordable and accessible sustainable aviation fuel market.”
Jan Toschka, president, Shell Aviation, said: “It’s brilliant to see Bank of America leading the finance sector’s charge to decarbonize business travel through SAF and I’m proud they have chosen Avelia to help them do this. Corporations that choose to fly on SAF have the power to catalyze the scaling of this technology and accelerate decarbonization across the aviation sector. It’s a fantastic opportunity for businesses to make aviation more sustainable and we are here to support this transition and help make it happen.”