RENEWABLE ENERGY
The role of collaboration The scale of the challenge demands collaboration.
“ We are seeking partnerships and collaboration across the entire value chain,” Julien says.
“ We are also sponsoring some studies, for example, of different crops that could be used as a feedstock for SAF. We are discovering a new world like pioneers do – a world of collaboration and a wealth of failure, because sometimes we realise that what we are doing doesn’ t work. That’ s very much the beauty of innovating and allowing ourselves to fail from time to time.”
The role of the consumer While airlines and manufacturers are central to the SAF transition, passengers and corporate customers also have a part to play.
“ When you buy your ticket, have a look as to whether the airline is proposing to you having a little bit of SAF in your ticket,” suggests Julien.“ You’ re no longer buying only the experience of travelling from A to B. You are buying this experience plus a reduced carbon footprint.”
Corporate customers, in particular, are leading the way by purchasing SAF credits to offset their business travel emissions.
“ When I fly on business travel with Air France, we buy from Air France 100 % CO₂ reduction out of SAF. We buy SAF from Air France, or the CO₂ reduction attributes of the SAF that Air France procures. In return we get certificates that we can claim for.”
Book and claim mechanisms: Making SAF more accessible One of Airbus’ s proudest recent achievements is the development of a‘ book and claim’ mechanism for smaller customers. This system allows customers to claim the environmental benefits of SAF, even if the physical fuel is not used on their specific flight.
“ The book and claim mechanism is correlating the attributes of SAF or the environmental attributes of SAF from the physical product. It is a great enabler for SAF to take off,” Julien says.“ For us, this demonstrator is really the opportunity to show that it’ s robust whilst at the same time helping our customers to decarbonise.”
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Airbus Summit 2025 – Top 10 key highlights
Policy, innovation and hope Looking to the future, Julien is cautiously optimistic.
“ My wish for the UK and Europe is to continue implementing their regulation while developing more support mechanisms for the local airlines. The threat that we see is that
124 June 2025