Airline ‘matchmaker’ service created for sustainable aviation fuel

A type of Tinder for airlines should address the hot, sometimes fraught topic of sustainable jet fuel.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said its new sustainable aviation fuel matchmaker platform would match requests for fuel with offers.

Kiri Hannifin, Air New Zealand’s chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, said the airline would be interested in hearing more about the service.

“For Air NZ, any global co-operation, or mechanisms to help facilitate access to this are welcome,” she told the Herald.

Sustainable aviation fuel (Saf) is seen by some aviation sector leaders as crucial, alongside greater fuel efficiency, to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

“We spend a lot of time extensively looking for opportunities for Saf,” Hannifin said.

Iata played a critical role in facilitating access to Saf and matching it with demand around the world, she said.

“Air NZ will be really interested in talking to Iata about what opportunities it could mean for our airline.”

The airline last month said it could tap into more Saf from sources including forestry and municipal waste.

Iata said in a match, airlines and suppliers could connect and take their negotiation offline to agree on specific terms including price and payment.

Iata said the new matchmaker service would simplify and speed up Saf procurement, without additional fees.

“Saf producers and suppliers can post available or planned Saf volumes, while airlines are able to register their interest in purchasing shown or desired Saf volumes,” the association said.

“Subsequent trades will take place outside the platform.”

The matchmaker would support spot purchases as well as other agreements, Iata said.

It would initially be available to airlines and Saf suppliers only.

But Iata said other Saf buyers including non-aviation companies would be able to join later.

Iata at its annual conference in India a few weeks ago raised concerns about the Saf market.

It said Saf needed “exponential expansion” to meet net zero carbon emission targets by 2050.

But it said Saf costs were 3.1 times that of jet fuel, mostly due to compliance fees European suppliers levied.

“The behaviour of fuel suppliers in fulfilling the Saf mandates is an outrage,” Iata’s director general Willie Walsh said at the New Delhi AGM.

The levies existed to hedge potential costs because of mandates in Europe to include 2% Saf in the jet fuel supply.

“Fuel suppliers must stop profiteering on the limited Saf supplies available and ramp up production to meet the legitimate needs of their customers,” Walsh said.

John Weekes is a business journalist mostly covering aviation and courts. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.