Delta Air Lines, alongside industry partners and public officials, has marked the opening of a new sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending facility in Minnesota, providing supply to Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP).
Located at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend Refinery, the facility is designed to blend up to 30 million gallons of neat SAF each year with conventional jet fuel before it is transported to the airport using existing pipeline infrastructure.
Minneapolis–St. Paul is Delta’s second-largest hub, where the airline uses approximately 250 million gallons of jet fuel annually.
The project forms part of the Minnesota SAF Hub, a coalition established in 2023 by Delta Air Lines, Greater MSP Partnership, Bank of America, Ecolab and Xcel Energy to support the development of a regional sustainable aviation fuel industry. Plans for the blending facility were first announced in September 2024.
The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from Delta, Flint Hills Resources, Ecolab and Greater MSP, alongside federal and state officials including US Senator Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Congressman Brad Finstad.
Peter Carter, President of Delta Air Lines, said:This facility is the culmination of a shared vision for Minnesota to become a leader in sustainable aviation fuel. By expanding the infrastructure needed to support broader SAF adoption, it represents an important step toward turning that potential into reality. Delta is proud to be part of this effort and excited about the role Minnesota can play in advancing the future of sustainable aviation fuel.
Sustainable aviation fuel is produced from renewable feedstocks and can be blended with conventional jet fuel for use in existing aircraft engines. It is intended to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions compared with conventional aviation fuel without requiring changes to current airport fuelling infrastructure.
Increasing SAF production capacity and developing supply infrastructure remain key challenges to wider adoption across the aviation sector.
The new blending facility supports Delta’s wider strategy to increase the availability of sustainable aviation fuel. Earlier this year, the airline announced a five-year collaboration with Shell Aviation to expand SAF supply across a number of US hubs and priority cities, including Minneapolis–St. Paul, through to 2030.
Delta has set a target for sustainable aviation fuel to account for 10% of its fuel use by 2030 as part of its longer-term objective of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Approximately 90% of the airline’s carbon emissions are currently associated with jet fuel consumption.
