The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has criticised European and UK Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandates, claiming that the cost of SAF compared to conventional fuel has escalated dramatically.
IATA says airlines are now paying up to five times the price of fossil fuel, driven by limited supply and “poorly designed mandates” that have allowed fuel suppliers to pass on significant compliance fees to airlines, effectively doubling the standard SAF price premium.
This regulatory burden is intensifying the cost squeeze on low-fare and regional carriers, whose razor-thin margins depend on minimal fuel expenditure.
Speaking the Association’s Global Media Day in Geneva this week, IATA Director General Willie Walsh warned that the majority of airlines with commitments to use 10% SAF by 2030 will be “forced to reevaluate” these targets, posing a major challenge for the industry’s long-term decarbonisation strategy.
“If the goal of SAF mandates was to slow progress and increase prices, policymakers knocked it out of the park. But if the objective is to increase SAF production to further the decarbonisation of aviation, then they need to learn from failure and work with the airline industry to design incentives that will work,” said Walsh.
IMAGE: ATR
The price of SAF has increased dramatically.
