KLM Flies Amsterdam to Hamburg on Synthetic Kerosene Blend

KLM Cityhopper has operated a passenger flight between Amsterdam and Hamburg using a 5% blend of synthetic kerosene, marking the first commercial flight to Germany powered in part by e-SAF (electro sustainable aviation fuel).

The synthetic fuel was produced by INERATEC using renewable electricity, CO₂, and water, blended with conventional kerosene by MB Energy, and refueled at Schiphol Airport before the flight. When produced at scale, e-SAF can reduce lifecycle emissions by more than 90% compared to fossil kerosene.

The flight builds on KLM's 2021 milestone, when the airline operated the world's first commercial passenger flight using synthetic kerosene, on a service from Amsterdam to Madrid. That flight used 500 liters of e-SAF; today's Hamburg flight used just 200 liters — a figure that illustrates the persistent challenge of supply. Currently, only a fraction of the e-SAF volumes mandated by European regulation for 2030 is actually in production, and the fuel remains around four times more expensive than conventional SAF and eight times more expensive than standard kerosene.

"Today's flight to Hamburg once again shows that flying on synthetic kerosene is technically possible. But the reality is that the availability of e-SAF lags far behind ambition," said Marjan Rintel, CEO of KLM, who chairs Project SkyPower, an initiative focused on scaling alternative aviation fuels.

KLM and its partners called on European governments to accelerate investment in e-SAF production infrastructure, citing permitting delays, regulatory uncertainty around ReFuelEU legislation, and the absence of large-scale production capacity as the main obstacles to progress.