Airbus Executive: current SAF supply is insufficient

Airlines are facing difficulties to get their hands on sufficient amounts of SAF, said Airbus' President for Africa and the Middle East, Mikail Houari. Houari was speaking at the Arab Aviation Summit in Dubai. He stated that the SAF that is available today is "peanuts" and at a "crazy cost."

According to a report by SimpleFlying, Houari mentioned delivering a new A321neo to an airline in Egypt, “and we could only find 34% SAF. So the ferry flight was with 34% SAF, which is good, but it is not enough because we could not find more." Several airlines have reported similar experiences: SAF is still in short supply and prices are high.

IATA estimates that the production of SAF tripled in 2022, reaching at least 300 million liters. SimpleFlying reports: “Given that in the US alone, jet fuel consumption averaged about 63 million gallons per day, it is easy to see that despite all the potential promises of SAF, supply is far from making any significant dent in aviation's CO₂ emissions. However, with an industry predicted to reach $15 billion by 2030, this is bound to change. The question is whether it will be enough.”