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Last year, as part of the fight against climate change, the European Union passed legislation requiring airlines to begin the gradual adoption of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) for routes departing EU airports.
The legislation provides for incorporating SAF for two percent of their overall fuel mix from next year, rising to six percent in 2030 and then soaring to 70 percent from 2050.
But according to Airlines for Europe (A4E), which groups the continent's largest airline groups (including Ryanair, Lufthansa, IAG, Air France-KLM and easyJet), SAF production in Europe remains embryonic and also lags far behind projects launched in the United States backed by Washington's massive "Inflation Reduction Act" (IRA) plan.
"In the US, the SAF production is highly incentivised. We need those solutions here in Europe," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said at an A4E summit meeting in Brussels.
Currently, "90 percent of the investment in new plants of SAF is done in the US," Luis Gallego, CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways among other airlines, told the forum.
Gallogo complained that "we don't have enough SAF to comply (with the EU directives) and we don't see construction of plants happening now."
The heads of the airlines attending the gathering -- from Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary to Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith, used the meeting as an opportunity to present the industry's grievances on the fuel issue to the European Commission and put their views on how to preserve competitiveness as the bloc limbers up for elections of early June.
They also called for stronger protection against the effects of strikes, after last year was marked by major disruptions related not least to protests against pension reform in France.
A4E is also calling for formal notice periods on unions calling of industrial action -- 21 days for air traffic control as a whole and 72 hours for individual controllers saying if they will or will not show for work to allow airlines an idea of the extent to which flights can be maintained. France recently set 48 hours for the latter requirement.
On Wednesday, A4E reiterated a long-standing demand for a fundamental reform of air traffic control regulations grouped under the Single European Sky initiative launched in 2004 to improve and streamline European air traffic management, citing the need to make substantial time and fuel savings.
tq/ico/cw/yad
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