Air France-KLM has been ranked as the leading airline group for the adoption of alternative aviation fuels, according to new research from Transport & Environment (T&E).
The environmental group’s SAF (‘sustainable’ aviation fuel) Observatory has assessed the efforts of 77 airlines around the world in using more alternative fuels to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
But the research found that so far only 10 airlines have made “serious plans to transition to green fuels”, with half of the carriers analysed by T&E receiving a zero score for their “lack of uptake” of alternative aviation fuels.
Air France-KLM was the only aviation company in the T&E study to receive a category B ranking with a score of 61 out of 100. In 2023, alternative fuels made up 1.1 per cent of the company’s overall fuel mix – higher than any other airline in the study, apart from cargo specialist DHL (3.3 per cent).
T&E said in its report that Air France-KLM scored well due to its “large purchases of waste-oil biofuels”, which should allow it to reduce emissions by nearly 4 per cent by 2030.
Other European airline companies in the top 10 included Norwegian in third place, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG in fourth position, and Wizz Air, which came fifth. All of these firms received a C grade from T&E for their efforts to increase usage of alternative fuels in their aircraft.
US-based airlines also feature heavily in the top 10, with United Airlines in second position, followed by Southwest (8th), JetBlue (9th) and Delta (10th).
T&E said that the remaining 67 airlines were either buying “too little” or the “wrong kind” of alternative aviation fuel, or they were “not considering” this kind of fuel in their decarbonisation plans at all.
Francesco Catte, SAF manager at T&E, added: "Too few airlines are committing to truly sustainable fuels. The majority are either buying the wrong types of fuels or, worse still, no SAF at all.
“Airlines have to put their fist on the table to change this. They need to send the right signal to fuel suppliers that what is being sold to them will not make their flights green. Otherwise, they can wave goodbye to their net-zero goals."
T&E argues that e-kerosene, which is made from renewable electricity, is the most “sustainable and scalable” type of alternative aviation fuel. While fuels made from food and feed crops or vegetable oils are “not sustainable at all”, as their production “drives deforestation and competes with food supply”.
The report added that e-kerosene currently makes up less than 10 per cent of alternative fuel contracts agreed by airlines, according to T&E. While biofuels produced from crops comprise around 30 per cent of these agreements so far.
“But a large part of the blame lies with oil companies, who are not investing in the transition to green kerosene. The EU needs to prioritise the uptake of e-fuels for planes in its upcoming Clean Industrial Deal package,” added T&E in its report.
“Airlines need to do more to push fuel producers to prioritise the right types of feedstocks.”
Read more about the issues around the development of alternative aviation fuels in BTN Europe’s Navigating towards net zero report.