IATA: 1 Bln Passengers On Jet Fuel, SAF Mix Flights By 2025

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) – The International Air transport Association (IATA) is targeting one billion passengers to fly on flights powered by a mix of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2025. In a statement today, IATA said this aspiration was identified on the tenth anniversary of the first flight to blend sustainable aviation fuel and ordinary jet fuel. “On Feb 24, 2008, a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 flew from London to Amsterdam with sustainable aviation fuel in one of its engines. The flight demonstrated the viability of drop-in biofuels, which can be blended with traditional jet fuel, using existing airport infrastructure. “A flight completely powered by sustainable fuel has the potential to reduce the carbon emissions of that flight by up to 80 per cent,” it said. Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Alexandre de Juniac said the target would not be easy and the association needs governments to set a framework to incentivise production of SAF and ensure it is as attractive to produce as automotive biofuels. “The momentum for sustainable aviation fuels is now unstoppable. From one flight in 2008, we passed the threshold of 100,000 flights in 2017. We expect to hit one million flights during 2020. But that is still just a drop in the ocean compared to what we want to achieve,” he added. The push to increase uptake of SAF is being driven by the airline industry’s commitment to achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and to cut net carbon emissions by 50 per cent compared to 2005. Acknowledging that some sources of biofuels for land transport have been criticised for their environmental credentials, de Juniac emphasised the determination of the industry to only use truly sustainable sources for its alternative fuels. “The airline industry is clear, united and adamant that we will never use a sustainable fuel that upsets the ecological balance of the planet or depletes its natural resources,” he said. -- BERNAMA