Norwegian has launched a daily domestic route between Aalborg and Copenhagen operating with a permanent 40% sustainable aviation fuel blend on every departure — the first commercial route in Europe to run a high-blend SAF standard as a matter of course rather than as a pilot flight. The blend will apply to all 2026 and 2027 departures, reducing lifecycle emissions from the route by more than 3,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The route was created through a state tender under the Danish government’s ‘Green Aviation’ agreement, under which Denmark is actively subsidising demand for SAF on domestic services. Norwegian won the tender on the basis of lowest price per tonne of CO2 saved, securing a supply arrangement built entirely on European raw materials.
“This is not just a new route. It is a new model for how we accelerate the restructuring of aviation because it creates demand for SAF. In this way, we get volume, and volume is what drives investments and production.” — Geir Karlsen, CEO, Norwegian
The SAF is produced by Finnish energy company St1 at its biorefinery in Gothenburg, Sweden — a joint venture with SCA that has an annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes of biofuels, including SAF, renewable diesel, bio-naphtha, and bio-LPG. The facility is designed to process a range of feedstocks including used cooking oil, fatty food waste, and crude tall oil fractions. Fuel is blended and delivered through existing aviation fuel infrastructure by DCC Shell Aviation Denmark and Norwegian fuel supplier AFSN.
The 40% blend is close to the ceiling of what is currently permitted under international aviation safety rules, which do not yet approve 100% SAF use in commercial operations.
“The Danish state has chosen to use market forces actively,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian. “By securing demand for SAF, we are building a market and moving toward a better and more sustainable aviation sector. We are proud to have won the tender with the lowest price per tonne of CO2 saved.”
Niels Hemmingsen, CEO of Aalborg Airport, noted that the transition requires structured public-private cooperation: “No one can lift this task alone, but together we can take the next important steps toward a more sustainable future for Danish and European aviation.”
The significance is structural. Until now, high-blend SAF use in Europe has been confined to demonstration flights and short-term trials. A permanent, state-backed route with a fixed supply chain establishes a reference model for government procurement of SAF on domestic services — and gives other European states a cost benchmark for replication.
