Sustainable aviation fuel is 'stupid' and new planes are the answer to future goals, AirAsia chief says

There is not enough cooking oil in the world to fill the world's fleet of planes, Tony Fernandes tells Dubai forum

AirAsia's chief executive Tony Fernandes says the aviation industry' goal of achieving net-zero by 2050 is doable with the introduction of new technology planes and engines. Reuters

AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes has dismissed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as an idea that “makes absolutely no sense”, arguing that new-technology aircraft and engines will help the aviation industry reach its sustainability goals.

SAFs are synthetic alternatives to fossil fuels, made from renewable sources, such as waste cooking oils, vegetable fats and agricultural waste.

The outspoken airline industry veteran said aviation will reach its net-zero goals by the 2050 timeline but questioned the pathways set out to achieve this target.

“I feel the travel industry is taxed unfairly. I think sustainable aviation fuel is stupid, I think it makes absolutely no sense at all because there is not enough cooking oil in the world to fill the planes. Putting 1 per cent or 2 per cent of cooking oil into your plane is not going to change global warming,” Mr Fernandes told the Skift Global Forum East in Dubai on Wednesday.

The goal of net-zero by 2050 set out by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) is doable but “some of the suggestions coming out are just stupid”, he added.

SAF is expected to account for 65 per cent of the emissions reduction needed by the global aviation industry by 2050, according to Iata. It accounts for just 0.53 per cent of the aviation industry’s fuel needs for this year, the global airlines lobby group said in June. While SAF production in 2024 is on track to triple to 1.5 million tonnes, “exponential increases” in supply are needed, it added.

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SAF currently costs three times more than traditional jet fuel and airlines have reiterated this would have to be passed on to consumers.

Through the International Civil Aviation Organisation, governments set a target to achieve a 5 per cent CO2 emissions reduction for international aviation from SAF by 2030. To achieve this goal, about 27 per cent of all expected renewable fuel production capacity available in 2030 would need to be SAF, but it currently accounts for just 3 per cent of all renewable fuel production, according to Iata.

Using the next-generation of more energy-efficient aircraft and buying carbon credits are better solutions to minimise the aviation industry's environmental footprint and reduce its emissions, according to Mr Fernandes.

“We have to take a serious look at the environment, there's no choice about it. My view is technology will have to play a part. The engine manufacturers and plane manufacturers will have to come up with better equipment, which they are,” he said.

“Secondly, we have to be paying carbon credits and putting those carbon credits into projects that will soak up carbon.”