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Flying with fuel made from sunlight: The world's first airline to use solar kerosene | SWISS
The Lufthansa Group and Synhelion are taking a pioneering role in the production and use of sustainable fuels
Lufthansa Group and SWISS have agreed on a strategic partnership with the start-up Synhelion, which was founded in 2016 as a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), to bring solar fuel to market. Synhelion is a pioneer in the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from renewable energy sources. Its breakthrough technology uses concentrated solar heat to produce syngas, from which kerosene is subsequently synthesized in standard industrial processes. This "sun-to-liquid" process will make a major contribution to the decarbonization of air travel, as only as much CO2 is emitted during combustion as was previously used for production.
Synhelion – Turning sunlight into fuel
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Synhelion – Turning sunlight into fuel.
Sustainable aviation fuels close the carbon cycle
Our team-up with Synhelion is founded on our shared vision to make carbon-neutral flying in regular flight operations possible through the use of solar fuel. We are proud that SWISS will be the first airline in the world to fly with solar kerosene. In partnering with Synhelion, we are supporting Swiss innovation and are actively pursuing and promoting the development, the market introduction and the scaling-up of this highly promising technology for producing sustainable fuels.
Dieter Vranckx
Member of the Executive Board, Lufthansa Group
SWISS will be the world's first airline to fly with solar fuel
SWISS becomes the world’s first airline to fly with solar fuel
In June 2024, Synhelion inaugurated the world’s first industrial-scale plant for producing synthetic fuels using solar heat in Jülich, Germany. Shortly after, the Lufthansa Group airline SWISS became the first airline in the world to integrate solar fuel produced by Synhelion into its regular flight operations — marking a historic milestone in sustainable aviation.
Synhelion delivered an initial 190-liter barrel of synthetic crude oil, manufactured entirely with solar energy, to a refinery in Northern Germany. There, it was processed into certified Jet-A-1 aviation fuel and subsequently fed into SWISS’s flight operations infrastructure via the fuel supply system at Hamburg Airport.
This achievement is part of the Lufthansa Group’s strategic partnership with Synhelion, focusing on the so-called Sun-to-Liquid technology. This innovative process uses high-temperature solar heat, water, and CO₂ to produce solar kerosene — a promising alternative to fossil-based jet fuel.
The partnership also includes support from the Lufthansa Group and SWISS in developing Synhelion’s first commercial-scale fuel plant in Spain, construction of which is set to begin in early 2025. Once operational, the facility is expected to produce up to 1,000 tons of solar fuel per year.
This collaboration once again underscores the pioneering role of the Lufthansa Group, which has been active in the research, testing, and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for more than a decade. Through initiatives such as the CleanTech Hub, the Group continues to drive key technologies like the Sun-to-Liquid process to scale and commercialize sustainable energy solutions.
The Lufthansa Group CleanTech Hub is proud of this milestone and looks forward to further collaboration with Synhelion to advance solar fuel technology and contribute to a more sustainable future for aviation.
