Aer Lingus Owner IAG Invests in UK Green Fuel Start-Up Company

Airline group International Airlines Group (IAG) – which owns Aer Lingus, Iberia, British Airways, LEVEL and Vueling – has participated in the £20.75m (€24m) Series B funding round for OXCCU, a UK-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) innovator.

IAG has been joined by new and existing investors including Safran Corporate Ventures, Orlen and Aramco Ventures, among others.

IAG invested in OXCCU through IAGi Ventures, its dedicated corporate venturing arm, which earlier this year announced an investment commitment of up to €200 million over five years – the largest by a European airline group. OXCCU exemplifies the type of high-potential company IAG is seeking to support through IAGi Ventures.

Spun out of Oxford University, OXCCU has developed a novel, patented process which directly converts gaseous waste carbon and hydrogen into jet fuel range hydrocarbons. This process eliminates a key step required in conventional methods with the potential to reduce both capital and operating costs. It can operate with a wide range of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen input gas compositions giving it the flexibility to efficiently convert different feedstocks into SAF.

The Series B fundraise will enable OXCCU to deliver on its scale-up strategy and accelerate the commercialisation of its technology. It follows the opening of their first demonstration plant¹ at London Oxford Airport last year, and will support the development of a larger-scale facility expected to be operational in 2026. OXCCU’s facilities could play a crucial role in helping meet the UK’s SAF mandate and IAG’s decarbonisation goals.

“We’re focused on backing companies whose technologies have the potential to deliver meaningful impact and we’re excited to be supporting OXCCU as it embarks on the next stage of its scale-up journey,” said Ignacio Tovar, IAG Director of Innovation. “By leveraging our industry expertise, acting as early adopters, and fostering collaboration across our airlines and broader partner ecosystem, we help the companies we back to scale faster.”

IAG was the first airline group globally to commit to net zero by 2050 and has a goal of meeting 10% of fuel needs with SAF by 2030. In 2024, 1.9% of IAG’s total fuel used was SAF, saving 469,000 tonnes of CO₂, up almost 200% versus 2023.