ST. PAUL, Minn., July 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South St Paul Municipal Airport-Richard E Fleming Field announced that it has finalized details with Swift Fuels, LLC , a global leader in the development of high-performance unleaded aviation gasoline, and has begun selling Swift’s unleaded UL94 aviation gasoline for its piston aircraft customers.

The nationwide transition to unleaded aviation gasoline continues to increase momentum for Swift Fuels, which produces and sells the only commercially-available unleaded avgas in the U.S.  This latest announcement marks yet another milestone for Swift Fuels, with Fleming Field being the first airport in Minnesota to join the campaign.  Swift’s UL94 unleaded avgas will completely replace previously-sold ethanol-free autogas and will now be the only unleaded fuel distributed at Fleming Field, located just two miles south of South St. Paul.

Andrew Wall, the Manager of South St. Paul Municipal Airport, had this to say regarding Swift Fuels’ breakthrough unleaded fuel: “With a large portion of our airport traffic being piston-engine aircraft, we not only sought a cleaner performing alternative to 100LL [low lead], we also needed a more durable option than recreational autogas. Autogas has a higher vapor pressure which can contribute to vapor lock and it has a much shorter shelf-life. Swift’s UL94 solves these issues and it also eliminates lead-fouled sparkplugs, which greatly extends costly oil change maintenance intervals in relation to 100LL, which is a huge benefit to cost-conscious pilots.”

Joel Ludwigson, Airport Commission Chairman, also commented, “Swift Fuels’ UL94 is the only commercially-available unleaded avgas, it’s sold nationwide, it’s commercially insured for aviation, and our pilots requested we supply it. We’re extremely proud to be the first airport in Minnesota to join the progressive nationwide movement toward unleaded avgas.”

Chris D’Acosta, Swift Fuels CEO, added, “We’re proud to continue to lead this multi-year initiative to educate the market on the key benefits of unleaded avgas.  This can only happen with the ongoing support of forward-thinking regulators, aircraft/engine OEMs, pilots, airports, municipalities, airport boards and supply chain folks.  Forward-looking leaders like Andrew Wall and the airport commissioners at Fleming recognize the growing demand for cleaner fuel for their customers, and continue to play an integral role in the transition.  We recognized early on that pilots would value the longer maintenance intervals, less wear-and-tear on engines, less corrosion, longer sparkplug life, etc. We are extremely proud to have our UL94 avgas available for piston aircraft use at Fleming Field,” said D’Acosta. 

Swift Fuel’s Unleaded UL94 Avgas is sold nationwide - priced competitively with 100LL and is expected to remain low subject to oil market volatility. Over 110,000 aircraft are already FAA-authorized to use the UL94 Avgas as a “drop-in ready” fuel . Note that UL94 is not a full replacement for 100LL, therefore, only those aircraft with engine / airframes requiring 94 motor-octane fuels or lower are compatible – which represents 65% of the US piston fleet. For more information about UL94 and the latest listing of airports with Swift Fuels UL94 available, please visit:  www.swiftfuels.com

About South St. Paul Municipal Airport-Richard E Fleming Field  See: https://www.airnav.com/airport/KSGS

About Swift Fuels Since 2012, Swift Fuels has become a global leader in the advancement of high-performance unleaded aviation fuels.  This includes the commercial deployment of UL94 - a 94 motor octane aviation gasoline that meets ASTM D7547 for lower octane aircraft. Our company’s focus now includes advancing efforts to finalize the FAA’s certification of our high-octane fuels for use in all airplanes currently fueled by 100LL.  Swift Fuels looks forward to a day when toxic lead will be permanently removed from fueling piston-engine aircraft through the roll-out of our high-performance, environmentally-friendly unleaded aviation gasolines.  For more information, visit https://swiftfuels.com/

Contact – South St. Paul Airport: PR Contact for Swift Fuels:
Andrew Wall Mark Hanes
(651) 554-3350 (917) 359-0697
Awall@southstpaul.org mark.hanes@tallgrasspr.com