As the pressure to decarbonize aviation grows, SAF has emerged as a key technology driver for reducing emissions, especially for long-haul flying.
SAF is an alternative to conventional aviation fuels. It has the potential to reduce our industry’s reliance on fossil fuels. While SAF emits similar CO2 levels during combustion, its lifecycle CO2 impact is significantly lower, even 80 % lower than that of fossil jet fuel, as it is produced from non-fossil resources. However, due to its limited availability, the overall impact on the entire sector’s footprint remains small for the moment, but its usage is a positive step forward.
There are multiple roadmaps published outlining similar results needed to achieve carbon-neutral flying (IATA Waypoint 2050, A4E destination 2050 and WEF SAF as a Pathway to net-zero Aviation). We need to pull many levers, but the most important one requiring our focus now is sustainable aviation fuel.
In 2024, SAF accounted for only 0.46% of our fuel usage. In the coming years, the share of SAF will increase both through regulation and through our voluntary actions. As of 2025, the EU has required that fuel suppliers blend 2% SAF into kerosene. In addition to mandated SAF volumes, we will need to increase the voluntary SAF volumes. To achieve this, we need not only the support of our customers but also the global ramp-up of SAF production on scale, as currently, the high price availability of SAF hinders its large-scale use.