European airlines likely beat 2% green jet fuel target last year, sources say

COLOGNE: Europe’s aviation sector hit - and may well have surpassed - a 2% mandate for green jet fuel use in 2025, a regulatory official and a source told Reuters, bolstering airlines’ green credentials as the region seeks to cut reliance on hydrocarbons.

The achievement, previously unreported and due to be confirmed in a report later this year, marks a sharp turnaround from a year earlier when uptake was just 0.6%.

Airlines had repeatedly warned that targets would be missed.

“We believe we will be at or even above the 2% in 2025,” Florian Guillermet, head of regional aviation safety body EASA, which monitors implementation of the targets, told Reuters in an interview in Cologne.

EASA will publish official data on last year’s sustainable jet fuel (SAF) use in Europe after the summer.

Jet fuel use has been thrust further into the spotlight as the Iran war lifts oil prices and disrupts supplies.

A senior European Union official, who asked not to be named, separately said the region had likely exceeded the threshold. “We will end at above 2% in Europe for 2025.

We see a clear supply response to the mandate,“ the person said. The EU required 2% of fuel made available at regional airports to be SAF in ?2025, rising to ?6% in 2030.

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Synthetic SAF (eSAF) must account for 1.2% of the total from 2030, rising to 5% in 2035. Airlines for Europe (A4E) - whose members include Ryanair, Lufthansa and British Airways-owner IAG - has urged regulators to scale back the eSAF requirement, arguing that supply is limited and costs are high.

The European Commission has since said it has no intention of rolling back the eSAF mandate, though it acknowledges more must be done to make the fuel affordable and accessible.

“The mandate is a mandate, so it is in place. Personally, I don’t see any reason why it should change,” Guillermet said, echoing comments from the EU transport commissioner last week.

The EU official agreed: “It is very important to stick to the mandates. We have proven so far that we were right.”