‘’IATA, on behalf of its 290 global airline members, is disappointed in the outcome of the RED II trilogue today. A major opportunity has been lost for Europe to create a regulatory framework to encourage the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)," said Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Europe.
"The aviation industry has committed to carbon-neutral growth from 2020, and to cut CO2 emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2050. But we need government support to bring sufficient quantities of SAF, at an affordable price, to market. In the view of most expert opinion, a multiplier of 2 for SAF within RED II would have helped achieve this. The outcome of a multiplier of just 1.2 means Europe will stay in the slow lane of SAF production. This decision means that not only is the EU not ready to support the de-carbonization of aviation, but it is missing a huge opportunity to create jobs, and improve fuel security in an uncertain world.
Despite this disappointing outcome, the airline industry will continue to invest in SAF and a whole range of measures to cut carbon and create a sustainable future for air travel. And we call on Member States in the RED II implementation to consider specific support for aviation and also call on the Commission to establish a specific SAF strategy for aviation."
