European airlines will miss green jet fuel targets, CEOs warn

BRUSSELS, Mar 27 (Reuters): The EU's requirement for 6 per cent of the jet fuel used by its airlines to be sustainable by 2030 is impossible to meet because of the cost and scarcity of green fuels, airline CEOs warned on Thursday ahead of a meeting with the European Commission.

The chief executives of Ryanair, IAG, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM told an annual industry conference in Brussels that the requirements for sustainable aviation fuel were adding to regulatory burdens that risked European aviation falling behind global competitors.

"We urgently need an EU aviation strategy in order to have SAF at competitive prices ... unless action is taken now, the only realistic solution is to move the 2030 SAF mandate to the right," said Luis Gallego, the CEO of British Airways-owner IAG.

The head of industry group Airlines for Europe said regulatory costs had tripled between 2014 and 2024.

SAF costs three to five times more than traditional jet fuel and makes up only 0.3 per cent of global jet fuel supply. European airlines are this year expected to use 2 per cent of SAF in their jet fuel mix, with the mandate rising to 6 per cent in 2030.