Camelina Skies: Delta’s Minneapolis-NY Flight This Week Fueled Partially by SAF

A 7,000-gallon shipment of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from Minnesota/North Dakota-grown winter camelina’s seed oil has arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport fueling facility and put to use in the air, according to Minnesota SAF Hub.

Delta Air Lines designated flight DL 2732 from Minneapolis to New York on Wednesday as the flight to be fueled in part by SAF from MSP Airport. An average passenger airliner might use an estimated 11,000 gallons of fuel on a two and half flight, according to various industry sources.

The SAF is made from the winter camelina plant, which produces an oil rich seed, which can be crushed, refined and used to produce SAF. While it has one of the lower carbon intensity scores of the many feedstocks being used for SAF production, it is also one of the many feedstocks found in Minnesota that can produce SAF, including corn, soybeans, canola, continuous living cover crops, agricultural biomass, woody biomass, hydrogen, waste oils, fats and more.

Cargill has worked with Minnesota and North Dakota growers to plant 2,000 acres of winter camelina, which was harvested in summer 2024 and used as a feedstock for the SAF. The camelina was processed at Cargill’s West Fargo crush plant and sent to Montana Renewables, where it was refined and blended into SAF.

The camelina SAF was sold to Delta and transported by Shell Aviation directly to the MSP Airport fueling facility where it will enter the fuel supply. Delta will cover the cost of the SAF required for flight DL 2732 from Minneapolis to New York in recognition of New York Climate Week, replacing the traditional conventional jet fuel.

The Minnesota SAF Hub also announced that a SAF blending facility at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend facility will blend SAF locally by late 2025. Additionally, a Gevo ethanol plant in Luverne, Minnesota is planning to convert its facility to SAF production in the future.