Essar expands UK aviation footprint
Stanlow, 4th August 2021: Essar Oil (UK) Limited, which owns and operates the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, today announced it has begun supplying jet fuel directly to airlines at Cardiff Airport, with new deals having already been secured with various carriers that operate flights from the facility.
These agreements demonstrate further the continued success of the Essar aviation fuels business, with direct supply arrangements now in place with carriers at five major airports across the UK – Manchester, Birmingham, London Stansted, Leeds-Bradford, and Cardiff.
Adam Brayne, Aviation & Business Development Manager at Essar, commented, “Adding Cardiff Airport to our UK network is a further chapter in our growth story, as Essar continues to support major airlines through what we hope will be a recovery period for the sector. We look forward to a successful partnership with the airport and are delighted to have already secured direct business with a number of key airline customers there.”
David Walters, Chief Financial Officer of Cardiff Airport, added: “We have been working hard to ensure suitable choice is available to our airline partners at Cardiff Airport, and we are very pleased that Essar has agreed to work with us as a new long-term fuel partner. We really look forward to working closely with the company, as we welcome more flights and airlines back to Cardiff.”
About Essar in the UK
Essar Oil UK is a leading UK-focused downstream energy company whose main asset is the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, one of the most advanced refineries in Europe situated close to the major cities of Liverpool and Manchester. Stanlow has 800 employees, and is a key strategic national asset, annually producing over 16% of the UK’s road transport fuels, while playing a key role in Britain’s broader petrochemical industry. Since acquiring Stanlow in 2011, Essar has invested $1 billion in margin improvement and other efficiency initiatives to ensure the refinery remains competitive in a rapidly changing market.
The company is a major supplier in the North West and beyond with customers including most of the major retail brands operated by international oil companies and supermarkets, Manchester Airport, leading commercial airlines, and the region’s trains and buses.
Essar is committed to playing a key role in the decarbonization of the UK economy, with ambitious plans to build a green energy industrial cluster at Stanlow. These include the construction of two new low carbon hydrogen production units on-site as part of the HyNet consortium, with a planned total investment of approximately £750m to deliver the hydrogen production hubs. Follow on capacity growth is planned to reach 80% of the UK Government’s new target of 5GW of low carbon hydrogen for power, transport, industry, and homes by 2030.
The company is also working with Fulcrum BioEnergy on a £600 million project to create a new facility to convert several hundred thousand tonnes of non-recyclable household waste each year into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use by airlines operating at UK airports.