S-Oil Corp., South Korea’s third-largest refiner by sales, said Sunday it has begun to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for Korean Air Co.’s regular route to Japan.

It is the first time for a local refiner to supply domestically produced SAF to local carriers on a regular route that departs from a domestic airport, the company said in a statement.

S-Oil signed an SAF supply deal with the national flag carrier for regular flights between Incheon International Airport and Haneda Airport once a week starting Aug. 30, it said.

“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 Chief Executive Anwar Al-Hejazi said in the statement.

For a stable supply of SAF to its customers, S-Oil is “positively” considering the production of an SAF-dedicated production facility in Ulsan, 305 kilometers southeast of Seoul, he said.

The company has a sole oil-refining facilit
y in the port city.

In April, S-Oil obtained international certifications from the global certification body Control Union to domestically produce SAF for the first time among local refiners.

Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled Aramco holds a 63.4 percent stake in S-Oil.

Source: Yonhap News Agency