IATA Criticized EU’s SAF Mandate as Costly and Ineffective

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) strongly criticized the European Union’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate, calling it an expensive policy with minimal environmental impact. At a media roundtable in Singapore, IATA Director-General Willie Walsh argued that transporting SAF from other regions to Europe only added to the fuel’s carbon footprint, undermining the intended climate benefits.

Walsh pointed out that despite the EU’s requirement for a 6% SAF blend by 2030 under ReFuelEU Aviation, actual SAF production remained very limited. IATA estimated that in 2025, SAF would account for just 0.7% of global airline fuel consumption, or about 2 million metric tons. He argued that mandating usage without ensuring supply created artificial scarcity, driving up costs without environmental returns.

According to IATA, fuel suppliers with SAF obligations were also inflating the prices of conventional jet fuel, resulting in higher operational costs for airlines. Walsh claimed the policy had effectively enabled monopoly pricing by a few suppliers, without contributing meaningfully to decarbonization goals.

He also raised concerns about the oversimplified narrative around palm oil as a SAF feedstock, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced and data-driven approach to assess sustainability. While Asia ramped up SAF production for export-especially from countries like Singapore-IATA called for the EU to re-evaluate its SAF targets and adopt more realistic strategies that actually support environmental outcomes.

The IATA-EU SAF dispute is a live example of what happens when climate mandate design outpaces supply-chain readiness - and airlines, fuel producers and financiers now have to plan across scenarios where the mandate holds, gets adjusted, or is enforced unevenly. Our energy-transition and market-intelligence teams help aviation-adjacent clients build scenario-based transition plans that stay credible either way.