Air traffic Cleantech company Synhelion supplies Swiss with sustainable kerosene
The cleantech company Synhelion will supply the airline Swiss and the logistics company Kühne+Nagel with sustainable aviation fuel in future.
16.12.2025, 11:34
SDA
From 2027, Swiss will purchase at least 200 tons of this fuel every year. Kuehne+Nagel will use a portion for cargo flights.
According to a press release issued on Tuesday, Swiss and Synhelion have concluded a five-year contract to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Swiss is the first airline to sign a long-term purchase agreement with Synhelion, paving the way for more sustainable aviation, it said. For Synhelion, the agreement offers planning security.
"The partnership with Synhelion is an important step for Swiss on the way to decarbonizing our flight operations", said Swiss CEO Jens Fehlinger in the press release. With this agreement, the airline is supporting Synhelion as a customer, investor and strategic partner in the development of the production of renewable synthetic fuels.
Expansion of production
Swiss had already used small quantities of Synhelion's solar fuel in regular flight operations in July. The first barrel of synthetic crude oil supplied to Swiss was produced in a production facility in Jülich near Cologne. The crude oil was then processed into certified aviation fuel (Jet-A-1) at a refinery in northern Germany.
However, Synhelion now wants to expand production with the support of partners. From 2027, the company will produce so-called "Syncrude" in its first commercial plant for sustainable synthetic crude oil, a company spokeswoman told the news agency AWP. The fuel, which is refined in a nearby refinery, will then be fed into the fuel supply system via the regular logistics chain at airports.
The new plant will also be located in Jülich and will be ten times larger than the first production facility, which was launched in 2024 and is powered by the concentration of sunlight. At the new site, the "Syncrude" will be produced using a heater powered by renewable electricity. Annual production will be around 1000 tons. By way of comparison, a cargo plane on the Zurich-New York route consumes roughly 70 to 90 tons of kerosene.
Numerous customers
According to the spokesperson, customers for Synhelion fuel include not only Swiss but also Zurich Airport, Lake Lucerne Shipping, Pilatus Flugzeugwerke, the car dealer AMAG and the Arosa Lenzerheide ski resort for refueling snow groomers. The company did not provide any information on the financial commitment of the partners or the prices stipulated in the purchase agreements.
Kuehne+Nagel will also use the sustainably produced fuel. Kuehne+Nagel announced on Tuesday morning that Swiss and the logistics company had extended their partnership for this purpose. Swiss will resell some of the renewable kerosene produced by Synhelion to Kuehne+Nagel for air freight transportation.
