While the aviation industry faced an abundance of hurdles throughout 2020, Avfuel Corporation's team has buckled down and listened to customer needs. The result has been a rollout of new solutions for sustainability and price risk management, and increased support across its divisions as an all-round aviation services facilitator.

Avfuel staff are committed to providing solutions that make it easy to be green, as the aviation industry works to reduce its carbon emissions. To move this mission forward, Avfuel launched its Carbon Offset Program in early 2020 to provide an immediate solution for emissions reductions, offsetting approximately 100 gallons of jet fuel per carbon credit purchased. Operators can choose to offset their carbon emissions by either designating a specific number of gallons to offset when creating an Avfuel Contract Fuel authorisation online, or by opting to offset emissions from all gallons of fuel purchased through Avfuel.

While carbon offsetting provides a simple solution to emissions reductions, the most effective solution to reach aviation's sustainability goals remains the widespread adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). To this end, Avfuel continues to work with producers for enhanced availability. Once a larger scale of SAF product comes to fruition, Avfuel looks forward to launching a book and claim model. Through this system, operators anywhere in the world will be able to offset their emissions by purchasing SAF from Avfuel on a credit-per-gallon basis.

In addition to sustainable solutions, Avfuel has turned its attention to price risk management. Though the industry is experiencing 10-year lows on fuel prices, analysts increasingly expect those prices to rebound and exceed pre-pandemic levels. As customers try and budget in such a volatile market, Avfuel has rolled out two new solutions to help them take the uncertainty out of fuel prices: fixed forward pricing (FFP) and capped pricing. As a simple solution to mitigate financial risks, an FFP agreement allows customers to buy a fixed monthly quantity of fuel at a fixed price over a specified period of time. This enables operations to stabilise cash flows and secure fuel costs; ensure margins and have confidence in budgeting; and benefit from price stability for 12 to 36 months.

Capped pricing agreements, as the ultimate price risk management solution, allow for no fixed minimum prices and no minimum volume commitments for a term of 12 to 24 months. As such, customers never pay more than their maximum fuel price, even when the market rises above it. But when the market dips below their capped price, the customer pays the lower price. Both programmes can be extended to include carbon offsetting and sustainable aviation fuel to help operators reach their emissions reductions goals.

In its commercial fuel division, Avfuel's experts have focused extensively on logistics. As the world navigates its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has increasingly relied upon air transport for the efficient movement of lifesaving PPE and medical supplies. Now, the industry is prepping for some of its most precious cargo yet: the long- awaited COVID-19 vaccine. In anticipation of this development, Avfuel is positioning its team and communicating with carriers on solutions to support these integral missions on a global scale, including: short-notice assistance with 24/7 operations support; arranging support at major ports of entry, tech stops and stops in alternative markets to avoid congestion or accommodate parking needs; short- and long-term fuel supply needs; and coordinating any possible tax exemptions.

Avfuel has also announced the expansion of its network with further FBO options in markets throughout the world. The fuel supplier has welcomed 27 new FBOs to its global branded network of over 650 locations. These include: Avflight Grand Rapids; Aviation Specialties Unlimited; Avjet Pagosa Springs; Boscobel Municipal Airport; City of Cleburne; City of Kearney; ClearTech Aviation; Clinton Flying Service; Dassault Falcon Jet; DFW Corporate Aviation; Five Rivers Aviation; Freedom Fuels Blanding Air Support; Gemini Flight Support; Kankakee Valley Airport Authority Leadville-Lake County Airport; Lux FBO; MRB Aviation; Nye County airport; ProJet Aviation; Rabbit Aviation Service; Race City Flight Operations; Sky Aviation Corporation; Steuben County Board of Aviation; Suburban Aviation; Summit Airport Services; TAC Air BUF; and US Trinity Aviation. Additionally, the fuel supplier is pleased to further support flight operators with competitive fuel prices via new supply agreements at over 260 contract fuel locations, adding more than 30 throughout the United States and 230 abroad so far in 2020. In total, operators can enjoy competitive rates and processing benefits in Avfuel's worldwide network with more than 3,000 locations.

“The Avfuel team constantly works to grow a robust, reliable network of fuelling locations to support our loyal flight operations,” says Joel Hirst, Avfuel's VP of sales. “We welcome our new partners to our branded and contract fuel networks and are grateful for the trust they've placed in us as a fuel supply and aviation services provider.”