High prices and limited availability continue to hamper the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to a panel of industry experts addressing today’s annual conference of the British Business & General Aviation Association (BBGA). Speakers said that new mandates requiring greater use of SAF, such as measures introduced in France and California, could provide the nudge they believe is needed to push past objections.
Illustrating the relatively weak impact SAF is having on the market, Bombardier Aerospace industry relations manager Leo Knaapen told the conference that at its Montreal headquarters, the manufacturer now offers free uploads of SAF for its customers’ aircraft, and yet only one in six accepts the fuel even when it would cost nothing to switch to it. He challenged fuel suppliers and FBOs to more effectively educate operators about the benefits of SAF and its safety credentials.
The UK government is considering a SAF mandate and this week published responses it has received to a consultation process, according to Air BP’s global marketing manager, Laura Bowden. Aviation consultant and former EBAA chief executive Brian Humphries called for operators and their customers to be granted relief from airline passenger duties in return for buying SAF.
“Mandates will push up demand but we also need to boost voluntary demand,” Bowden said. “The challenge is how we can continue this virtuous circle to increase rates of production and reduce prices.”
However, according to Callum Cooper, a charter broker with Hunt & Palmer, pricing and competitive pressures make it difficult to persuade clients to use SAF. “It is very difficult to convince charter clients, and we need to be more educated ourselves to overcome their reluctance to put it in aircraft,” he told BBGA members. However, he added that with more companies now voluntarily introducing green carbon-reduction targets in their corporate strategies, there is a new opportunity to make the case for SAF adoption for business travel.
Willie Brewster, Signature Flight Support’s fuels manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said that the company is working to expand the availability of SAF beyond hot spots like California. He said that aircraft manufacturers could do more to make sure that pilots have a complete understanding of SAF and are equipped to explain this to aircraft owners.