ISTANBUL
Airline companies are the victims of manufacturers who are not producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the chairman of the board of governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday.
Addressing the IATA’s annual general meeting in Istanbul, Mehmet Tevfik Nane stressed that the air carriers are ready to buy any SAF products available in the market.
He further said that despite announcing the zero carbon emission target by 2050 the aviation sector is not benefiting from this decision.
“We are becoming victims, because of the manufacturers and because of the decisions taken by the governments not consulting with aviation investing,” he added.
Willie Walsh, the director general of IATA, also said the lack of SAF is not a supply chain issue, but a production issue.
“The reason the SAF price is so much higher than the traditional jet kerosene is because it is being produced in low volumes,” he saud.
IATA continues to call on governments to incentivize the production of SAF, he added.
He also recalled that the airlines have bought and used every single drop of SAF that was produced, at an additional cost of $350 million in 2022.
“So airlines will buy the product, we want to see the production in greater volumes,” he added.
– Zero emission roadmap
IATA released its roadmap for the net zero carbon emission target by 2050 on Sunday, addressing aircraft technology, energy infrastructure, operations, finance, and policy considerations.
The roadmap included the development of more efficient aircraft and engines, SAF and hydrogen powered aircraft, using renewable energy, automation, big data management, integration of new technologies for operations, global strategic policies to provide incentives, and financing $5 trillion needed for the sector to achieve zero emission target by 2050.
