HomeSustainabilityAer Lingus/BA Owner IAG Invests in Huge SAF Supplier in UK

Aer Lingus/BA Owner IAG Invests in Huge SAF Supplier in UK

Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG has invested in Wastefront, a leading tyre-to-fuel company planning to turn used tyres into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Norwegian company Wastefront is planning to build an SAF plant in Sunderland to primarily supply the UK’s growing green aviation fuel provision needs.

The plant will begin operations in 2026 and once fully operational the following year, will process up to 10 million waste tyres annually.

IAG’s investment is aimed at enabling Wastefront to build the plant.

IAG owns Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL.

European flight cancellations

The SAF will be made by converting waste tyres into tyre derived oil, which is then refined into road fuels and SAF. The SAF produced is expected to give life cycle carbon emission savings of over 80% versus fossil fuels.

The new plant is viewed as being critical in the UK’s SAF mandate, requiring at least 10% of all jet fuel used in flights departing the UK to come from sustainable feedstocks by 2030, rising to 22% by 2040. Achieving the UK’s 2030 SAF target will require producing 1.2 million tonnes of SAF annually for the aviation industry – almost 20 times the UK’s estimated production of 64,000 tonnes in 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Jonathon Counsell, IAG’s Group Sustainability Officer, said: “We’re proud to support innovators like Wastefront, who are finding new forms of feedstocks to produce advanced fuels. However, as global demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) grows, it’s crucial to expand production in the UK. The recent Government mandate will help reduce aviation’s overall carbon impact, but airlines need confidence that the planned revenue certainty mechanism will support UK businesses in developing SAF technology without further increasing the cost base for UK airlines.”

Vianney Valès, CEO of Wastefront, said: “At Wastefront, our mission is to turn a problematic waste stream into a highly valuable resource. We can create SAF at an extremely competitive cost with a very low environmental footprint – capable of reducing carbon emissions in the production process by up to 80% compared to traditional jet fuels. This investment is a testament to the potential of Wastefront’s technology in tackling waste and air pollution.”

IAG’s investment is part of its broader strategy to reduce carbon emissions in its operations, across its airlines Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL. The group has already secured more than a third of its 2030 SAF target and was the first European airline group to pledge 10% SAF usage by 2030.

Geoff Percival
Geoff Percival
Geoff has worked in business, news, consumer and travel journalism for more than 25 years; having worked for and contributed to the likes of The Irish Examiner, Business & Finance, Business Plus, The Sunday Times, The Irish News, Senior Times, and The Sunday Tribune.
Logo

Must Read