Swiss and Kühne+Nagel commit to purchasing solar jet fuel from Synhelion

(CONNECT) Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) and the Zurich-based cleantech company Synhelion have signed a long-term offtake agreement for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). With this, Swiss has become the first airline in the world to make use of the solar jet fuel produced by Synhelion. Starting in 2027, it will purchase at least 200 tons of the company’s SAF each year for a period of five years.

From 2027, Synhelion will produce renewable synthetic crude oil, known as “syncrude”, on the basis of solar energy at its first commercial plant in the German town of Jülich in North Rhine-Westphalia. This will be processed at an existing refinery into certified Jet-A-1 fuel.

“The fact that SWISS, a leading airline, has committed early on to adopt our fuels demonstrates confidence in the market readiness of our technology” comments Philipp Furler, co-founder and co-CEO of Synhelion, in a statement released by his company. “This partnership is a milestone for the commercial market launch of our fuels – and sets a powerful example to other airlines worldwide”, he adds.

In a statement published by Swiss, the company’s CEO Jens Fehlinger describes the partnership with Synhelion as a major step towards decarbonizing its own flight operations. Given that sustainable aviation fuels remain scarce and expensive, Swiss needs strong partners like Kühne+Nagel, he says. As such, the airline therefore intends to supply some of the solar jet fuel it will purchase to the logistics specialist from Schindellegi in the canton of Schwyz, who intends to use it for transport services with Swiss WorldCargo. This agreement allows Kühne+Nagel to offer customers “the opportunity to reduce their environmental footprint with this innovative technology”, explains Yngve Ruud, Member of the Management Board responsible for Air Logistics at Kühne+Nagel.

Swiss has been a strategic partner of Synhelion since 2020. In 2022, the airline also became an investor in Synhelion. In addition to Swiss and AMAG, the SMS Group, the Mexican cement firm Cemex and the Italian oil company Eni have also invested in the company, which is headquartered in Zurich and operates an office in Lugano in the canton of Ticino.

Synhelion is one of the exhibitors in the SWISS Pavilion as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week / World Future Energy Summit from 13 to 15 January 2026. ce/mm