The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) welcomed the European Parliament’s formal adoption today of a first-ever sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate. However, the association pointed out that the European Parliament agreement “noticeably lacks” a book-and-claim measure. RefuelEU 2021/0205 calls for the scaling up of the use of SAF at EU airports, reaching 70 percent by 2050.
Noting its commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, EBAA strongly backed the roadmap toward increased SAF uptake across the EU. However, EBAA also stressed that it had pushed for inclusion of a book-and-claim system in the mandate. Under book-and-claim, operators that do not have access to SAF at their airport can purchase it, paying the additional surcharge, for use by operators elsewhere. The operator paying the premium for the SAF would get the credit for the use of the fuel.
EBAA said recognition of book-and-claim is necessary “to ensure a level playing field between aerospace users and to help overcome logistical and geographical constraints.” This is particularly true given the limited development of SAF infrastructure, the association added. Further, book-and-claim can attract further financing into the SAF system and support demand.
“Regrettably, the final agreement does not include such a system,” EBAA said. It also expressed the concern that the rule includes a threshold of 800,000 passengers a year for the mandate. Given the limited availability of SAF at small airports, EBAA fears that this will make the ability to meet decarbonization objectives all the more challenging.
“EBAA urges European legislators to reconsider the critical importance of the SAF flexibility mechanism in future revisions of the legislation and agree on a common set of criteria to make such a mechanism a standard across the Union,” the association said and further called for a ramp up of SAF production.
Member states must still endorse the mandate before it is published by the EU and enters into force, EBAA said.