SAF Book-and-claim Could Cover Non-EU Airports

The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) has made progress on getting a SAF book-and-claim pathway recognized under ReFuelEU legislation. Following ongoing lobbying and participation in technical workshops by EBAA, non-EU airports have now been brought back into the proposed policy—a direction the association believes to be a “positive development.” However, while the proposal remains under discussion by the European Commission, EBAA is seeking clarification as to the stage at which non-EU airports could become involved in book-and-claim.

EBAA and its industry partners have long called for the European Commission to recognize SAF book-and-claim under ReFuelEU regulations. The adoption of this mechanism—allowing SAF purchase and usage to be accounted for without requiring physical delivery to a specific airport—would, according to EBAA, promote greater use of SAF through a more flexible approach to “reflect the operational reality of business aviation.”

After a follow-up discussion about book-and-claim for sustainable aviation fuel in the EU, the proposed pathway has been broadened to include airports falling outside of the ReFuelEU definition of “union airports.” This follows EBAA’s intervention during a previous workshop.

“This is an important point for our sector,” EBAA wrote on June 12. “Excluding non-union airports from the outset would have significantly reduced the usefulness of any future book-and-claim system for our members,” given the “very diverse network” of locations from which business aviation operates.

The EU defines “union airports” as those located in the EU, with the exception of nine outermost regions, including French overseas territories. Qualifying airports must also have had more than 800,000 passengers or more than 100,000 tonnes of freight traffic in the previous reporting year. However, outermost regions or those operating below the above metrics may also choose to “opt in” to the ReFuelEU scheme.

A current proposal details two distinct stages by which aircraft operators could claim SAF-related benefits: the first linked to purchase records, and the second introducing tradeable tickets. A second sub-option would also see supplier compliance strengthened through separate tickets. EBAA is currently seeking further clarification on which stage non-union airports could be included.

“The distinction matters because stage 1 is based on purchase records and claims under greenhouse gas schemes, while stage 2 introduces a more developed ticketing structure,” explained EBAA.

Amid ongoing lobbying work, EBAA—alongside a coalition of business aircraft manufacturers, operators, airports, fuel producers, and service providers—in February sent a joint industry letter to key European commissioners to outline their cause. In this letter, the coalition explained that the adoption of methods such as book-and-claim was “of paramount importance to avoid structural imbalances and reduce overall costs in the EU’s SAF market, while ensuring an efficient deployment of SAF.” It added that book-and-claim “would not impose additional costs on the EU or member states.”