Airbus CEO Faury on SAF investment: “It is time for action”

Guillaume Faury, CEO, Airbus has said it is still possible for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to account for 10% of all airline fuel by 2030, but that projects need to move from planning to investment.

During an investor call he confirmed that the 10% target needs to be achieved, despite SAF accounting for less than 1% of fuel in 2022.

“We see a lot of projects everywhere, and we try to play the role of a catalyst in accelerating [the use and production of SAF] and actually we’ve seen a lot of positive news in the last year,” said Faury. “When we speak with energy producers, they are now coming to decision points for investments, so on the one hand we are behind, we don’t yet see the secure trajectory to 10% by 2030, on the other hand there is a lot of momentum and I am optimistic that in the next two or three years we will see the projects and the investments that will secure this 10% use by 2030.”

He believes the 2030 target can still be hit. “So the jury is out but it’s time for action in the sense of making those projects become reality and therefore enabling the growth of the production and use of SAF by 2030,” said Faury. “It’s feasible, it’s not yet done. With airlines there needs to be a demand, for a demand it helps to have either regulations and mandates or incentives as we’ve seen in the US.”