Irish-based aircraft leasing giants AerCap and Avolon have suggested it is unrealistic to expect airlines’ adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to massively reduce carbon emissions in the aviation industry.
Pointing to dwindling levels of interest amongst private investors, both companies said the only way to raise the necessary funds to boost SAF and its usage, will be for national governments to raise the money through taxpayer money and invest.
“If governments want airlines to burn sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), they’re going to need to devote extraordinary sums of taxpayers’ money to make it happen,” AerCap chief executive Aengus Kelly, said at the Airline Economics conference in Dublin this month, as quoted by Reuters.
“If we have a limited amount of funds, which every government does, we should put it where we get the biggest bang for our buck and I’m just not sure in aviation that it’s going to move the needle enough,” he said.
Reuters quoted Avolon CEO Andy Cronin as saying SAF will need “significant policy and state intervention” with that being “a real concern.”
