SAF in the Middle East Landscape

In January of this year, a Boeing 777-300ER from Emirates departed from Dubai International Airport and, a little over an hour later, returned to Dubai. However, this wasn’t due to a technical issue; it was part of a strategy to promote sustainability in aviation. With this flight, Emirates achieved the milestone of being the first airline in the Middle East and Africa to operate a flight in the region with one of its engines powered entirely by Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs).
In October 2023, Emirates airline formalized an agreement with Shell Aviation, securing a supply of over 300,000 gallons of blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for its operations at Dubai International Airport.
Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ chief operating officer, commented on the demonstration flight, stating, ‘Such initiatives are critical contributors to industry knowledge on SAF, providing data to demonstrate the use of higher blends of SAF for future regulatory approvals. We hope that landmark demonstration flights like this one will help open the door to scaling up the SAF supply chain, making it more available and accessible across geographies, and, most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.’
According to IATA, SAFs have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%. Their advantage over other alternative fuels lies in being ‘drop-in fuels’ – they can be blended with existing aviation fuel and used in current jet engines with no modification required.
Other airlines in the region are also embracing SAFs. In October 2022, an Etihad flight from Tokyo Narita, Japan to Abu Dhabi utilized a blend of 40% SAFs, resulting in a reduction of approximately 75.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Cassie Mackie, Vice President Procurement & Supply Chain at Etihad Airways, emphasized the commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and reducing 2019 emissions by 50% by 2035. She highlighted the importance of collaboration between governments, corporations, and the aviation sector in increasing SAF supply and availability at airports, paving the way for broader adoption.
Currently responsible for about 2.5% of the global carbon footprint, aviation faces challenges in rapidly decarbonizing compared to other sectors. Batteries, which are replacing combustion engines in road vehicles, are too heavy for effective use in flight. The use of hydrogen to power planes requires significant changes in supply infrastructure for airports and the associated airlines.
For a substantial impact, the production of SAFs needs to be rapidly increased. In 2019, commercial airlines consumed 95 billion gallons of aviation fuel, while global SAF production in 2022 was only around 119 million gallons, meeting just 0.1% of the demand.”