Kuehne+Nagel & Mercedes-Benz Promote Sustainable Air Freight Cause

The partnership between Kuehne+Nagel and Mercedes-Benz has resulted in the successful use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the production supply, saving almost 11,000 tonnes of CO2 in twelve months.

Mercedes-Benz & Kuehne+Nagel

As a long-standing air freight partner of Mercedes-Benz, Kuehne+Nagel has also been supporting Mercedes-Benz's logistics chains to the USA since 2019, for example, for the plant in Alabama. For over a year, sustainable fuels have been used in this strategic partnership in the area of transport logistics. Sustainable aviation fuel is used for the vehicle manufacturer's air freight transport, thus, actively supporting Mercedes-Benz in the decarbonisation of their supply chain.

Thanks to the use of SAF, Mercedes-Benz has been able to reduce around 11,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the past twelve months, in comparison to only using conventional fuels. SAF was used on charter flights with Kuehne+Nagel's own Boeing 747-8F cargo aircraft ‘Inspire’ on the route from Stuttgart (Germany) to Birmingham (Alabama, USA).

"Our vision of becoming the most trusted logistics partner for a sustainable future by 2030 means that: As an industry leader we take our responsibility to support our customers in reducing their CO2 emissions seriously", says Heiko Schuhmacher, senior vice president, Global Air Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel. "We are proud that this pilot project has developed into a long-term collaboration in the spirit of decarbonisation with a strong partner."

Mercedes-Benz and Kuehne+Nagel have set themselves the goal of avoiding and actively reducing emissions in transport logistics. "Transport logistics is a key part of the automotive value chain. By using sustainable aviation fuel for air freight transport, we can reduce emissions along our value chain and take an important step towards net carbon neutrality. We are delighted to reach another milestone in sustainable logistics together with our partner Kuehne+Nagel," says Jörg Burzer, member, Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Production, Quality and Supply Chain Management.