AACO: Airline bodies urge states to resist global SAF target

The leaders of the Arab Air Carriers’ Organisation and IATA used the platform of AACO’s 56th Annual General Meeting in Riyadh on 31 October to urge governments not to follow the European Union’s “stick” approach to increasing the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by setting a global 2030 SAF target.

Their warning comes in advance of ICAO’s third Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) to be held in Dubai from 20-24 November 2023 which will set the global policies for encouraging greater SAF production and usage in the coming years.

The associations are concerned that states will seek to copy the EU approach, laid out in its ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative, with its mandate that all carriers operating in the EU must uplift 6% SAF by 2030.

“We call upon states to adopt policies supporting the production and the use of SAF and LCAF [Low Carbon Aviaton Fuel], built upon incentives, instead of taxes, penalties, or mandates,” said Abdul Wahab Teffaha, AACO Secretary General in his State of the Industry address.

The EU has been advocating that other states adopt its strategy and establish a “mid-range” 2030 SAF target of 6% arguing that ICAO’s Long-Term Aspirational Goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, and CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) are not strong enough.

“Isn’t it evident that the environmental cause is a global one that should not be fragmented by unilateral, national, or regional initiatives, and that the only way to deal with global problems is through global solutions?” asked Teffaha.

Although airlines know the EU will not reverse course on mandates, IATA Director General Willie Walsh told Arabian Aerospace it is asking governments elsewhere that they “don’t do what Europe is doing.”

The EU sees itself as a “thought leader” on the topic of SAF policy, but non-European governments should recognise that Europe has made a mistake with its mandate approach, said Walsh.

“Creating the right frameworks to incentivise more SAF production is the right way to go,” said Walsh, such as the policies being adopted in the US. “The next few years are critical to establish the infrastructure for delivering SAF and governments should be focused on that.”

“The idea that there needs to be a demand signal from airlines is nonsense,” added Walsh. He explained that airlines are buying every drop of SAF produced and even paid $500 million for higher cost SAF compared to buying regular jet fuel in 2022.