EUROCONTROL’s data snapshot on sustainability

15 June 2021: EUROCONTROL has published its 11^th data snapshot on regulation and focussed logistics, unlocking the availability of SAF at European airports.

SAFs can deliver a benefit of 80 per cent savings in CO2 emissions. The use of SAF is still very limited in Europe, with Swedavia airports (0.15%) and Norwegian airports (0.50%) having the highest share of SAF are. The European Commission is currently working on a proposal to increase the production and uptake of SAF, however, there is still another issue to address on the matter: the logistics of getting SAF at the airports.

According to the snapshot, given that in 2019 only 39 airports out of 1657 in Europe accounted for 80 per cent of the volume of conventional jet fuel, it would make sense to concentrate the fuel supply chain of SAF to these airports rather than distributing it evenly across Europe. With a 12.5 per cent  SAF blend, these airports would contribute to 8 per cent CO2 reduction from flights departing Europe.

As SAF is twice as expensive than conventional jet fuel, an incrase of 12.5 per cent of SAF in the blend would increase the fuel costs of 2.5 per cent for airlines, leading to possible tankering and hindering the decarbonisation of the sector. The incrase of prices would also negatively impact the competitiveness of European airlines.

You can read the full report here.

16 February 2021: On 16 February, EUROCONTROL published a Data Snapshot on CO2 emissions. It states that half of the CO2 emissions come from just 6 per cent of the flights from European airports, the long-haul ones. In 2019, this 6 per cent of flights was responsible for 48 per cent of CO2 emissions, while in 2020 it was responsible for more than half of European aviation’s CO2 emissions despite of COVID19.

The short-haul (under 500km) instead, representing 31 per cent of flights, had a share of only 4 per cent of CO2 emissions. Despite short-haul being a great candidate for electrification, for example, the snapshot suggests that the maximum possible saving in short haul would be about 4 per cent of the total CO2 emissions from aviation. It recommends, therefore, to ensure the supply of SAF for the long-haul flights as it would reduce emissions from the sector significantly.  

You can find the Data Snapshot here.