Gazpromneft-Aero, the aviation fuel operator of Gazprom Neft, increased jet fuel sales by 16% to 1.6 million tons in H1 2021. The volume of retail sales of ‘into-the-wing’ refuelling grew by 14%, to almost 1 million tons. The largest Russian international airports, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk saw the biggest increase in the jet fuel sales over the same period.
In H1 2021, Gazpromneft-Aero extended its sales network to 321 airports in 71 countries worldwide and increased the refuelling volume of Chinese Sichuan Airlines, China Eastern and Air China by 63%. The company has also signed a contract with SF Airlines, a Chinese cargo carrier, to refuel its transcontinental flights at Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport. Gazpromneft-Aero provides refuelling services to the Chinese passenger and cargo flights under the strategic cooperation framework agreement signed with China National Aviation Fuel Group Corp (CNAF, the national supplier of aviation fuel of China).
In 2021, Gazpromneft-Aero integrated its own Smart Fuel blockchain platform at Russian airports, which enables instant transactions between the fuel supplier and airlines and does not require any down payment for the refuelling. The platform is already used at the international airports of Murmansk, Novosibirsk and Saratov. By the end of the year, it is planned to introduce a blockchain platform in 10 more Russian airports.
Vladimir Yegorov, Gazpromneft-Aero’s CEO says: “Thanks to the recovery of air traffic in Russia and abroad, we have almost returned to the pre-pandemic levels of jet fuel sales. We expect continued growth in sales of high-quality petroleum products to our customers and are also ready to offer new types of aviation fuel to the market. For example, this year the Gazprom Neft’s Oil Refinery in Omsk started the production of the JET A-1 fuel, which is in demand in international aviation. In addition, together with our partners, we plan to start the development of SAF fuel, which helps reduce the carbon footprint of air transportation.”