Why support the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel?

SAF is a decisive technological key for more sustainable flying and essential for the energy transition in aviation and can be fed into regular flight operations without infrastructure adjustments.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is not produced from fossil fuels, but from renewable energy sources, such as used cooking oils and fats or from agricultural waste. While SAF emits a similar amount of CO₂ emissions during combustion as conventional kerosene, its lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions are at least 80% lower. To contribute to saving CO₂ emissions, we calculate your fuel consumption based on the estimated CO₂ emissions and ensure that exactly this amount of SAF is used on future Lufthansa Group flights. The SAF used in the Lufthansa Group's offers to customers is purchased by the Lufthansa Group in addition to the EU regulatory SAF quota of currently 2%, the costs of which are already factored into the ticket price, and is incorporated into the Lufthansa Group's flight operations within six months after the respective flight. The raw materials used to create SAF don’t take away from human or animal food and are subject to strict sustainability criteria defined in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation which are reviewed by independent auditors. Currently, SAF represents less than 1% of total aviation fuel used worldwide and costs about three to five times more than fossil fuel. The Lufthansa Group is involved in numerous projects to ensure that SAF becomes available in larger quantities as quickly as possible.

From 2022, Austrian Airlines has been refueling with the first regionally produced sustainable aviation fuels at Vienna Airport.

SAF is produced in a resource-saving process. There are various manufacturing processes and different feedstocks are available as energy carriers. The current generation of SAF used by the Lufthansa Group is mainly produced from biogenic residues, such as used cooking oils and waste fats. 

The special thing about is that although the combustion of SAF and fossil fuel produces identical amounts of CO₂, the use of SAF creates a CO₂ cycle: Biogenic residues (e.g. used cooking oils) that have previously removed CO₂ from the atmosphere are used as a feedstock for production. When SAF is burned, therefore, only as much CO₂ is emitted as was previously removed from the atmosphere by the feedstock materials. As CO₂ is currently still produced during the manufacturing and delivery process of SAF, SAF does not reduce CO₂ emissions by 100% over the entire supply chain compared to fossil fuel, but by at least 80%.

SAF is currently around three to five times more expensive than fossil aviation fuels and is not yet available in sufficient quantities worldwide to use SAF on all flights. The Lufthansa Group is involved in numerous projects to ensure that Sustainable Aviation Fuels become available in larger quantities as quickly as possible. The more industrialised and scaled up production becomes, the more the price will decrease in the foreseeable future.

For your flight, we calculate the price-premium for the upgrade from fossil fuel to Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

An example:
For a flight from Frankfurt to Madrid, you emit approximately 131 kg of CO₂ per person in Economy Class. You can partially make a contribution equivalent to this amount by supporting high-quality climate projects and reduce the residual portion CO₂-emissions by using SAF. When using SAF, you only pay the difference between the regular fuel price and the SAF price. 

We guarantee to feed the purchased SAF into flight operations within six months after the respective flight and thus reduce the CO₂ emissions of future flights by the corresponding amount. 

SAF purchased by you as a customer is purchased in addition to regulatory obligations of Lufthansa Group and therefore does not serve to fulfil legal quotas.

The SAF used by the Lufthansa Group is produced from raw materials in accordance with the Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001/EU Article 30) ‘RED II’. All SAF used is certified according to the ISCC or RSB system with a greenhouse gas reduction of at least 80%. The renewable part of the product is produced in a sustainable and ethical manner using good agricultural and industrial practices, complying with all applicable labour rights and laws and all environmental regulations, including but not limited to ILO Convention No. 138, ILO Convention No. 182 and ILO Convention No. 105. The product and raw material comply with applicable European legislation, in particular the latest Renewable Energy Directive.