The European aviation industry welcomes the inclusion of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which was the subject of a provisional agreement on Tuesday 6 February (see EUROPE 13344/4). However, they call on political decision-makers to go further “to ensure Europe develops a world leading SAF industry”.
Europe’s five main aviation associations - representing airlines, airports, the civil aeronautics industry and air navigation service providers - said that the industry would be “crucial for European aviation to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050”, according to a press release shared on Thursday 8 February.
In particular, they are calling for: - the extension of the SAF flexibility mechanism beyond 2034; - the extension of the current threshold of 20 million allowances and the time limit of 2030 under the SAF allowances mechanisms; - increased financial support for the development of SAF, including through the Innovation Fund; - simplification of the administrative procedure for accessing these funds.
The EU recently adopted the ‘ReFuelEU Aviation’ regulation on the deployment of SAF in aviation (see EUROPE 13267/35), which sets out a roadmap for reducing the sector’s CO2 emissions by replacing paraffin with sustainable fuels. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)