American Airlines and low-carbon synthetic fuels provider Infinium announced the completion of the first ever commercial flight in the U.S. – from Christi Corpus to Dallas-Fort Worth – using electro-sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF), demonstrating the real-world deployment of next-generation, drop-in SAF.
Founded in 2020, California-based Infinium produces synthetic fuels, or eFuels, using renewable power and waste carbon dioxide, avoiding the use of fossil fuels, or other feedstocks that compete with food used by other low carbon fuel solutions. The company said that it can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 90% compared with conventional petroleum-based jet fuel.
Fuel accounts for the vast majority of the aviation sector’s emissions. Generally produced from sustainable resources, like waste oils and agricultural residues, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is seen as one of the key tools to help decarbonize the aviation industry in the near- to medium-term. According to a recent report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), however, while SAF production nearly doubled in 2025, it still accounted for just 0.6% of airlines’ total fuel consumption. Efforts to meaningfully increase the production of SAF face barriers including high initial costs and feedstock challenges. The companies said that scalable, drop-in fuels like eSAF provide one of the most near-term and practical solutions for reducing aviation emissions, while also strengthening energy security by diversifying aviation fuel supply.
The eSAF used for the flight was part of a batch produced and blended at Infinium’s Pathfinder facility in Corpus Christ, the world’s first commercial-scale power-to-liquids eFuels production site, which has been operating since 2023. The batch was blended with conventional jet fuel and then delivered to the common jet fuel tanks at Christi Corpus International Airport before being allocated to American’s flight to Dallas Fort Worth, marking the first delivery of SAF made without biobased feedstocks to a commercial airport in the U.S.
Infinium CEO Robert Schuetzle said:
“Since 2023, we have been producing scalable, drop-in eDiesel and eNaphtha at our Pathfinder facility from waste carbon and renewable energy for use in commercial trucks and plastics processing. Adding eSAF to our product slate — and seeing it power a commercial passenger flight — marks another meaningful step forward in bringing practical, low-carbon fuel solutions to industry.”
American Airlines has an offtake agreement for commercial volumes of eSAF from Infinium’s Project Roadrunner, supported in part by a separate agreement with Citi aimed at enabling Scope 3 emissions reductions from employee travel.
Project Roadrunner, financed by Brookfield Asset Management and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and with nonrecourse project debt from HSBC, is currently under construction and expected to begin eSAF production and deliveries in 2027. Once it is fully operational, the project is expected to produce over 5 million gallons of eSAF annually, the companies added.
Robert Isom, American Airlines CEO, said:
“Through our partnership with Infinium, we’re demonstrating how next generation technologies like eSAF can move from early investment to real-world application. Scaling SAF production at lower prices is essential to reducing emissions, strengthening our long-term competitiveness, and continuing to deliver the connectivity and economic benefits that our customers rely on.”
