Ryanair has signed a Letter of Intent with Enilive for the long-term supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at selected airports across Italy between 2025 and 2030.
The agreement will give the budget airline access to up to 100,000 tonnes of SAF – which it said is the equivalent of 20,000 flights from Milano Malpensa Airport to Dublin.
Ryanair stated the agreement further advances its “pathway to net zero by 2050” decarbonisation strategy.
Thomas Fowler, Ryanair’s director of sustainability, said: “Increasing the production of SAF is a key challenge that the industry faces over the coming years.
“Partnering with an industry leader like Eni will help Ryanair achieve our ambitious goal of using 12.5 per cent SAF by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.
“Eni is a key supplier in our largest market, Italy, and their success in producing SAF will play a significant role as our Group grows to carry 300 million passengers a year by 2034.”
In its biorefineries in Italy, Enilive processes mainly waste feedstock, such as used cooking oil, animal fats and agro-food industry residues, to produce Eni Biojet, a sustainable aviation fuel that contains 100 per cent biogenic component and is suitable to be blended with conventional jet fuel by up to 50 per cent.
Stefano Ballista, CEO of Enilive, said: “We are glad to launch an agreement with such a relevant player as Ryanair right after European Union’s ReFuelEU regulations that aim to increase the adoption of SAF by 2050.
“Enilive plans to boost its biorefining capacity to over 5 million tonnes a year by 2030 and it is focused on developing new projects to expand its biorefining capacity.
“Biofuels can play a relevant role in decarbonising [transport], including its hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation.”
SAF is a “concrete solution” to contribute to the decarbonisation of aviation in the coming decades, according to Ryanair.
Yet it currently only accounts for a small fraction of the current fuel usage worldwide.
Image credit: Ryanair
