Top SAF Purchasers

According to ICAO's publicly available data, currently, there are 42.5 billion litres of SAF under offtake agreements. While we have seen which are the companies supplying them, it is important to understand who are the purchasers too.

Because SAF is in short supply, any CEO serious about the survival of his or her airline in the next decades is keen to secure enough supplies to meet government mandates, and keep the promises to investors and customers of decarbonising their operations. Airlines that do not secure supplies may soon be left scampering when there's insurmountable pressure from regulators or climate activists.

There is strong demand from European and North American airlines. The European carriers have strict mandates to meet set by the governments. At the same time, USbased airlines have very good incentives to buy SAF given the incentives offered in the Inflation Reduction Act. This has resulted in airlines from these regions being the bulk of the purchasers.

Asian and Middle Eastern airlines are lagging right now. But that should change. We see Qatar Airways buying SAF through the Oneworld Alliance and in SAF hubs like the Netherlands. Singapore Airlines should benefit from the large Neste SAF investment in the country.

While Oneworld Alliance and Delta Air Lines are tied in second place for buying the most SAF, United Airlines drowns them, taking 25% of the global market share.