Etihad Airways’ first SAF-fueled flight took off from Tokyo last week, WAM reports. The flight, which used an almost 40% blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), had lower CO2 emissions, and optimized flight planning using Satavia technology prevented contrails, reducing its net climate impact by 71 tCO2 equivalent (tCO2e). Contrails, or aircraft condensation trails, are responsible for up to 60% of the aviation industry’s climate footprint.

The fuel is courtsey Japan: Itochu Corporation established a SAF supply network at domestic airports across Japan for domestic carriers, which is now being expanded to international carriers starting with Etihad. The Japanese government set a goal of replacing 10% of the aviation fuel used by Japanese airlines with SAF by 2030.

Etihad aims to slash its 2019 emissions by 50% by 2035 and achieve net zero by 2050, WAM quotes Etihad’s VP of procurement and supply chain as saying.