Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply in the European Union reached 1.1 million tonnes in 2025, accounting for 2.8% of total aviation fuel supplied at EU airports and exceeding the 2% minimum target under the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, according to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Green Air reported.
A total of 39.3 million tonnes of aviation fuel was supplied at 121 airports across all EU member states last year. SAF supply increased nearly sixfold from 193,000 tonnes supplied at 33 airports in 2024.
Around 86% of the SAF supplied in 2025 was produced within the EU. The number of member states with operational or announced SAF production facilities increased to 18 during the year.
The Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Italy and France accounted for 0.8 million tonnes, or 74%, of total SAF supplied in the EU. The Netherlands recorded the largest volume at 0.32 million tonnes, representing 29% of the EU total.
EASA calculated that the use of SAF reduced greenhouse gas emissions at EU airports by around 3.77 million tonnes in 2025.
The second year of the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation also saw a significant improvement in reporting compliance. Around 90% of obligated aviation fuel suppliers submitted the required data, with 102 of 115 suppliers reporting, compared with a 67% compliance rate in 2024.
Among aircraft operators, 367 of 393, or 93%, submitted reports accepted by the relevant authorities. EASA said non-compliance was mainly associated with small business jet operators, non-scheduled operators and some operators from third countries that did not respond to requests from competent authorities.
Aircraft operators reported purchasing around 1 million tonnes of SAF at EU airports in 2025. Of this, 512,000 tonnes, or 49%, was intended to be claimed under the EU Emissions Trading System, while 90,000 tonnes, or 9%, was intended to be claimed under the UK ETS. A further 2% was intended for use under the CORSIA scheme, while 415,000 tonnes, or 40%, was not intended to be claimed under any market-based measure.
Despite the high share of SAF produced within the EU, 85% of the feedstocks used to produce the fuel originated outside the bloc. Used cooking oil remained the dominant feedstock, accounting for 80% of total SAF production.
Other feedstocks also entered the supply mix in 2025, including category 3 animal fats, palm oil mill effluent, food waste and crude tall oil.
China was the largest source of imported feedstocks, accounting for 61% of imports. Malaysia supplied 8%, Indonesia 5% and the UK 3%. Of the 15% of feedstocks originating within the EU, Germany, Spain and France were the largest contributors, each accounting for around 2%.
EASA also published reference prices for aviation fuels eligible under ReFuelEU Aviation for 2025. The conventional aviation fuel reference price was set at €640 per tonne, while aviation biofuels were assigned a reference price of €1,925 per tonne. These values are primarily intended to help member states determine penalties under the regulation and support mechanisms for eligible aviation fuels under the EU ETS Directive.
EASA said the positive developments in 2025 indicated that EU production capacity remained on course to meet the next mandatory SAF blending target of 6% in 2030. The agency assessed three scenarios for domestic SAF production capacity.
Under the first scenario, which considers only facilities already capable of producing SAF, EU production capacity would reach 1.5 million tonnes by 2030, below the 2.1 million tonnes required to meet the minimum target.
The second scenario includes facilities under construction and projects that have reached a final investment decision. It estimates SAF production capacity of 3.7 million tonnes by 2030, exceeding the 2.1 million tonnes requirement, excluding synthetic aviation fuels.
The third scenario also includes projects classified as having “high credibility” based on the disclosure of key project data and reasonable confidence of completion. Under this scenario, EU SAF production could reach 5.5 million tonnes by 2030, excluding synthetic aviation fuels. A further 0.6 million tonnes of synthetic aviation fuel could be produced to meet the separate eSAF mandate.
EASA said the synthetic aviation fuel market remains at an early stage, but noted the establishment of the first EU-based demonstration plant by Ineratec as evidence that the technology is being deployed. Around 50 eSAF projects are awaiting final investment decisions, while several EU member states are taking steps to support the technology’s scale-up.
Eight member states have launched the eSAF Early Movers Coalition under the European Commission’s Sustainable Transport Investment Plan. Germany, Luxembourg and Austria are set to launch a pilot double-sided auction backed by more than €2.1 billion in funding. The European Commission is also studying the possibility of establishing an EU financing mechanism.
EASA Executive Director Florian Guillermet said the agency’s monitoring work was building an evidence base to track progress, understand the development of the European SAF market and identify areas where further action may be required.
EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas said exceeding the first SAF target under ReFuelEU Aviation showed progress towards cleaner aviation and added that the focus would now be on building on the progress while supporting industry and national authorities through the transition.
