Flying with sustainable aviation fuel just became much more attainable for airlines.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), an industry group that represents 350 global airlines, has created a new online platform to match airlines with sustainable fuel companies.
The new matchmaker platform is designed to streamline the complicated and expensive process airlines must endure in order to find a sustainable fuel provider that suits their needs. Air carriers can submit their requests on the platform, and fuel providers can then follow up with their supply details. When there’s a match, the companies can take their discussion offline to hammer out details like pricing and payment terms.
IATA says the central database was designed in order to facilitate more voluntary purchases of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The organization has set an ambitious goal for the air travel industry to operate on a carbon neutral basis in less than 30 years.
“To reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we need an accessible, transparent, liquid, and efficient SAF market,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice president sustainability and chief economist. “The SAF Matchmaker is another example of the work that IATA is putting in place to create a fully functioning market for SAF. The SAF Matchmaker platform will accelerate the uptake of SAF by reducing the costs and complexity that airlines face when searching for SAF suppliers.”
Sustainable jet fuel currently only makes up 0.3% of jet fuel use around the globe, according to a recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The matchmaker platform will include comprehensive details about the fuel options, including volumes of supply, type of feedstock used, location and technology of production, emissions reduction, and compliance with various regulations, such as the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive.
For now, IATA’s platform is only available to airlines and fuel suppliers. However, the organization says that in due time, the database will open up to other non-aviation corporations who wish to participate.
In addition to making sustainable fuel options more accessible, IATA’s plan to achieve net zero emissions includes using other technologies, like those that remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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