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Flying might soon become more eco-friendly in Portugal as Air France-KLM looks to team up with Portuguese partners in the sustainable aviation fuel sector, reported Reuters.

This move comes as Portugal prepares to sell its national airline, TAP, with interest already shown by the Franco-Dutch group, Lufthansa, and British Airways owner IAG.

The airline recently sent its sustainability team to Lisbon, where they met with various local companies and experts. "They met various stakeholders to discuss potential cooperation opportunities in the field of sustainability and more specifically SAF, of which Air France-KLM is the world's number one buyer and user," a spokesperson for the airline said.

This partnership could benefit both travelers and the environment. For consumers, increased use of sustainable fuels can help stabilize ticket prices against oil market swings. For our planet, these fuels — made from renewable biomass or waste materials — produce far less pollution than traditional jet fuel.

Air France-KLM has already doubled its use of these cleaner fuels, incorporating 80,000 metric tons of SAF into its flights in 2023. That represents about 1% of its total fuel usage and 16% of worldwide SAF production.

A ranking by Transport and Environment, a Brussels-based advocacy group, named Air France-KLM among airlines "that have taken tangible steps to buy sustainable jet fuel, which will be crucial for the industry to meet the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050."

The timing aligns perfectly with Portugal's plans to take "advantage of its abundant renewable resources to give a boost to SAF projects." Portugal's Galp Energia is already building an industrial-scale production unit at its Sines refinery and plans to start producing biojet fuel in 2026.

Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG have already met with the Portuguese government and are waiting for formal talks on the sale of TAP to begin, which the government hopes to complete this year.

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