Greener Flights Ahead for UK Aviation

January 03, 2025

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(U.K. Department for Transport and Mike Kane MP) The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate will support thousands of skilled jobs, deliver economic growth and help make the UK a clean energy superpower. -- flights departing the UK will use greener fuels from today; 10% of all jet fuel must be sustainable by 2030 as one of the world’s first sustainable aviation fuel mandates comes into force; forms part of government’s Plan for Change and helps deliver mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower

Flights are set to be greener as the UK’s ambitious Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate officially comes into force today (1 January 2025).

SAF is made from sustainable sources, such as materials like household waste or used cooking oil and produces an average of 70% less carbon emissions than traditional fossil-based aviation fuel.

By law, this type of fuel must now make up at least 2% of all jet fuel in flights taking off from the UK from 2025, growing year-on-year to 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040.

These ambitious but achievable targets should see around 1.2 million tonnes of  SAF supplied to the UK airline industry each year by 2030 – enough to circle the globe 3,000 times.

Being one of the first countries in the world to sign the mandate into law, the UK is at the forefront of decarbonising air travel and is helping to kickstart the government’s Plan for Change.

Together with the other actions we are taking to grow a UK SAF industry, it will support thousands of skilled jobs in every part of the country, deliver economic growth and help make the UK a clean energy superpower.

Minister for Aviation, Mike Kane, said:

From this moment on, aviation will be a greener, more sustainable form of travel and today marks a significant milestone for the UK SAF industry.

With thousands of jobs supporting the UK SAF industry and flying becoming popular than ever, the mandate will help deliver our Plan for Change helping to grow the economy and giving people the freedom to travel in a more sustainable way.

Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, said:

UK airlines support the SAF Mandate as both a powerful and practical tool for driving down aviation carbon emissions and a clear signal that the industry is fully committed to a net zero future.

Our priority is ensuring airlines have access to the increasing volumes of SAF required to meet the mandate as global demand soars, at the most competitive price possible for consumers.

The UK mandate is ambitious and scaling SAF production will mean further work to expand eligible feedstocks, incentives to help cut costs and, critically, ensuring the design of the revenue certainty mechanism enables the UK to increase production of advanced fuels this decade whilst keeping costs as low as possible, critical for achieving mandate compliance and avoiding supplier buy-out.

Karen Dee, Chief Executive of AirportsUK, the trade body for UK airports, said:

The SAF Mandate is an important step towards decarbonising air travel and we are pleased the government has continued the work of its predecessor to implement it.

Aviation knows it must reduce carbon emissions and the mandate is something that it has long called for to help establish production of cleaner fuels. We will continue to work with all parties to ensure there is homegrown supply and that the UK benefits from this new industry through jobs and investment.

Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive of Sustainable Aviation, said:

Sustainable Aviation welcomes the introduction of this mandate, which will drive the demand needed to help deliver SAF at scale.

SAF is a critical component in the industry’s plan to reach net zero, representing almost 40% of the carbon reduction that will make net zero a reality in 2050.

Alongside the mandate, we also need a well-designed revenue certainty mechanism to help accelerate domestic SAF production and support compliance with the mandate, by kickstarting UK SAF production in earnest this decade. We look forward to the upcoming consultation and to the mechanism being delivered into law as soon as possible.

The start of the SAF Mandate is only one milestone on the UK’s path towards decarbonising aviation and comes following the first meeting of the Jet Zero Taskforce – a new and refreshed group charting a clear path toward cleaner aviation.

The government has also confirmed it will introduce a revenue certainty mechanism for SAF producers to attract investment in new plants in the UK.

Working alongside the mandate, it will help to reduce risk, give investors the confidence they need to invest in UK SAF plants and encourage the supply of  SAF for the UK aviation sector.

A further consultation on the revenue certainty mechanism will be launched early this year.

Read about the SAF Mandate. READ MORE

Related articles

UK SAF mandate comes into force (Ethanol Producer Magazine)
Heathrow accelerates Sustainable Aviation Fuel adoption (Heathrow)
Military fuel to include sustainable aviation fuel from 2025 (UK Defence Journal)
Heathrow Airport targets 3% SAF use in 2025 (SAF Magazine)

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: A report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network in December discusses U.K. SAF policy, production and use.

The report predicts the 2% SAF mandate in place for 2025 will result in approximately 287.5 million liters (75.95 million gallons) of required SAF use this year. That volume is expected to increase to 1.5 billion liters by 2030. The U.K. consumed an estimated 14 billion liters of jet fuel last year, with SAF accounting for less than 1% of that volume. Total U.K. SAF consumption for 2023 was approximately 138 million liters, up from 48 million liters in 2022.

According to the report, the mandate will primarily apply to commercial flights rather than private aircraft as the obligation is on suppliers of jet fuel. Over the next five years, the mandate is expected to equate to an average annual increase of 1.6% SAF in the overall aviation fuel supply.

The mandate is being enforced via a traceable certificate scheme for aviation fuel suppliers. Suppliers will receive a certificate proportional to the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction they achieved in the previous year. The certificates can then be used to meet the mandated obligations. Excess certificates can be sold to other suppliers who may need additional certificates.

According to the report, the mandate program also features a buy-out mechanism that allows obligated suppliers to discharge their obligations if they are unable to secure a supply of SAF, whether by imports or domestic production. The mechanism sets a maximum price for mandate certificates, which aims to prevent excessive costs from being passed on to consumers. The report also explains that the buy-out price is designed to encourage the supply and trading of SAF certificates over the use of the buy-out option, promoting actual emission reductions.

The U.K. currently has only one facility producing SAF, according to the report. That facility, owned by Phillps 66, is located in Yorkshire and co-processes waste oils.

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A full copy of the report is available on the USDA FAS GAIN website. READ MORE

Excerpt from Heathrow:

Heathrow increases pioneering Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) incentive scheme - targeting 3% SAF in 2025.
£86m is available to airllines to support the swap to cleaner fuels, cutting 500,000 tonnes of carbon from flights
Heathrow also publishes new 'Nature Positive Plan' and announces an update to its sustainability strategy, 'Connecting People and Planet' (Heathrow 2.0)

Heathrow has announced an increase in its pioneering carbon cutting scheme for a fourth year. In 2025, £86m will be available to airlines through the airport’s SAF incentive scheme, targeting 3% of aviation fuel used at Heathrow to be SAF - amounting to 187,000 tonnes. Heathrow continues to lead on SAF use in the UK, with the incentive 1% above the UK mandate. The SAF mandate came into effect 1st January 2025.

SAF, a fuel alternative to traditional fossil-based kerosene, can cut lifecycle carbon emissions by 70%1 on average by utilising feedstocks such as used cooking oil and other waste materials. The scheme encourages airlines to switch to SAF by approximately halving the price gap between kerosene and its cleaner alternative, making SAF more commercially viable for airlines. In 2025, the scheme aims to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions from flights by over 500,000 tonnes2. This is equivalent to over 800,0003 economy class passengers round trips from Heathrow to JFK.

The 2025 incentive aims to align with Heathrow’s target to be 1% above the UK mandate in 2030: achieving 11% SAF use at the airport. Integrating SAF into the fuel supply is a crucial step in the airport's journey toward achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Heathrow has also published its ‘Nature Positive Plan’ which outlines its commitment to better understand, and where possible, reduce Heathrow’s impacts on nature. This is important for tackling the global biodiversity and climate crises. Key commitments include: using nature-based solutions to solve Heathrow’s challenges wherever feasible; expanding nature networks around the airport to support ecological resilience; improving biodiversity management; supporting nature-based carbon removal; and being the first airport in the world to commit to adopting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations for annually reporting on our impacts and dependencies on nature.

Alongside the Nature Positive Plan, Heathrow is updating its sustainability strategy, ‘Connecting People and Planet’ (Heathrow 2.0). The refreshed plan introduces more ambitious goals in areas where significant progress has been achieved, while adopting realistic yet stretching targets in response to evolving circumstances and data-driven insights. It highlights clear progress and increased ambitions in priority areas, including reducing noise impacts, improving air quality, and supporting the local community.

Director of Carbon Strategy, Matt Gorman said: “Sustainable Aviation Fuel is no longer a future promise—it’s a proven solution that is powering flights worldwide. Our SAF incentive scheme, part of our Connecting People and Planet sustainability strategy, has made significant progress and we're now exploring options to set a long-term incentive signal to 2030. We are delighted that Government has moved so quickly to legislate the SAF Mandate. We must now accelerate legislation for the SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism to ensure we can build a domestic industry that will help decarbonise and drive economic growth.”

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1 According to the UK Government SAF emits on average 70% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than using fossil jet fuel on a lifecycle basis. Reference to: Sustainable aviation fuel initiatives - GOV.UK
2 Based on lifecycle carbon savings of 70%. The UK SAF mandate will require that SAF achieve a minimum lifecycle carbon intensity reduction of 40% compared to conventional fossil jet fuel. On average, the SAF used at Heathrow in 2023 reduced fuel carbon emissions by over 90% over its lifecycle. Source: Heathrow’s 2023 carbon footprint (page 65): 2023_Heathrow_Sustainability_Report.pdf
3 Calculated using the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator which states one passenger round trip LHR-JFK equates to 618kg. ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator (ICEC) READ MORE

Excerpt from UK Defence Journal: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has confirmed that from 1 January 2025, all aviation fuel procured will include sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), aligning with the UK SAF mandate and the government’s net-zero aviation goals.

Responding to a written question from Richard Holden MP (Conservative, Basildon and Billericay), Defence Minister Maria Eagle explained:

“Due to the increasingly routine use of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the Department does not collate detailed information on which flights use blended SAF, nor the proportion of SAF used against individual flights.”

The Minister highlighted RAF Lossiemouth’s role in adopting SAF, noting: “RAF Lossiemouth took delivery of over nine million litres of blended SAF in 2024 for routine use in refuelling all aircraft at the Station.”

Broader Context

The integration of SAF, which reduces carbon emissions by up to 70%, is central to the MOD’s net-zero carbon goal for 2040. Aircraft such as Typhoon fighters and Poseidon submarine hunters at RAF Lossiemouth already operate on SAF blends.

This initiative follows updates to aviation fuel standards in 2020, allowing defence aircraft to use up to 50% sustainable sources in fuel mixes. The RAF has also achieved key milestones, including:

The world’s first 100% SAF-powered flight of an RAF Voyager in 2022.
Air-to-air refuelling using SAF blends with Typhoon and C-130 Hercules aircraft in 2023.

The mandatory inclusion of SAF in all military aviation fuel reinforces the UK’s commitment to sustainable defence operations while maintaining operational readiness. By integrating SAF into routine operations, the RAF is setting a benchmark for balancing military capability with environmental responsibility. READ MORE