Why support the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel?

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is the generic term for all aviation fuels that are produced without the use of fossil fuels such as crude oil or natural gas. 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.

Compared to fossil fuels, SAF, which is used by the Lufthansa Group, reduces CO₂ emissions by at least 80%. To reduce your calculated flight-related CO₂ emissions, we calculate your respective fuel consumption based on your chosen flight and ensure that exactly this amount of SAF is used on future Lufthansa Group flights - at the latest 6 months after your individual flight.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel 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.

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.