British Airways parent IAG inks deal for nearly 800,000 tonnes of ‘e-SAF’

IAG, which claims to be the first European airline group to announce an e-SAF deal, said the new fuel will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by “up to 90%". Last year, the group used around 12% of the world’s SAF supply.

It said: “This deal brings the scale-up of e-SAF produced using power-to-liquid technology one step closer to reaching its full potential in the aviation industry.

"E-SAF does not face feedstock limitations, has a high degree of emissions reduction versus conventional jet fuel and has a relatively low land and water-use footprint.”

IAG’s partnership is with Twelve, based in California, which is building a demonstration plant in Washington State that will begin production next year. 

Luis Gallego, IAG’s chief executive, said: “The shortage of sustainable fuel globally continues to be a problem for our industry, although innovative companies like Twelve are an important part of the solution.  

“This new deal will contribute towards our 2030 SAF target. We would like to see similar projects scale in Europe, and we look forward to working with governments across our key markets to build a SAF industry to deliver jobs, economic growth and a stable supply of SAF.”